Oh My Goodness! It's a New Post!

Oh my goodness.  My family has begged and begged for more blog posts.  I recently had a friend message me, "has it been over a year since you posted in your blog?!"  It has been over a year.  I've been so busy with life, that I haven't made time for a blog post.  I am constantly adding things to the "Blog" list on my phone but I just haven't taken the extra time to write it down for the blog.  The other day, when one of us said something "Aussie,"  I wondered how long we would use the Aussie slang once we moved back to the states and didn't hear it all the time.  That made me a little sad that we would probably forget some of the little differences we have learned so much about.  That spurred me to take the time to write another blog post.  It's my way of documenting our time here for our kids.

Same but Different

We have noticed some products that are the exactly the same as what we buy in the U.S.  The company that produces it is the same and the packaging looks the same.  Except for the name.  In a previous blog post I gave an example of this with the Aussie Maclean and the U.S. Aquafresh toothpaste. Sometimes we will see TV advertisements that were also used in the U.S.  For example Aveeno Lotion runs an ad in the U.S. with Jennifer Aniston.  They run the exact same ad here.  Sometimes the ad will be exactly the same but the narrator has an Aussie accent.  It isn't often we see an exact same ad but totally redone with Aussie actors.   You know the Progressive Insurance commercials with Flo?  Flo has a whole series of commercials since around 2008.  Progressive must have been successful with this campaign in the U.S., because they used the exact same ads here, but have redone it with Aussie actors/actresses.  And it isn't Flo.  Here in Australia, they have Kitty.  They look similar, down to the apron, buttons and blue headband, and both have the same sassy attitude.

Flo, the American Progressive gal.

Kitty, the Australian Pregressive gal.  

Spelling

I've been here two years now.  Sometimes I'm still surprised to see the spelling of some words. 

Program = Programme  

Pediatrician = Paediatrician

Aging = Ageing

Customize = customise

Install = Instal

Enroll = enrol

Enrollment = enrolment

Analyze= Analyse

Civilize = civilise

Usable = useable

Defense = defence

Neighbor = neighbour

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• Some Aussies call an umbrella a "brelly."
• The other day in an email to me, an Australian used the phrase "chased it up." It means the same thing as "track it down." .
• If you are having a "chook" for dinner, you are having chicken.  
• Speaking of chooks, they like their meat flavored potato chips here.  Here are a couple of pics of some tasty treats you can get in the chip aisle. (I just have one thing to say.  Yuck.)

  

  Mmmm... Burger flavored rice cakes anyone?

  
  

  

  Big Burger Taste Burger Rings.  Yum.

  
  

  

  How about a chicken flavored wholegrain brown rice cake? (I know your mouth is watering.)
  
  (I just have one thing to say.  Yuck.)

• If you are having "tea," you could be having a cup of tea, or having a snack, or having a full meal at dinnertime. 
• My kids now pronounce "library" the Aussie way (Lie-bree)
• In Australia, you have not been "spoiled."  You have been "spoilt."  It's not something you "learned."  It's something you "learnt."  Poor Charlie...The other day he wrote "learnted." We are totally confusing them!

  

  From a bulletin board at the kids' school.

• Here it's not a Bachelorette Party.  Its called a "Hens Party." A bachelor party is called a "Bucks Night."  Hmmmm.... A hen and a buck...
• In Australia, "dacks" are pants. If you are wearing "tracky dacks" you are wearing tracksuit pants.   If you "dack" someone, you are pulling down their pants. 
• When answering the phone, the receptionist wouldn't say, "Dr. Smith's Office."  Instead she would say, "Dr. Smith's Rooms."
• Most restaurants or Cafes you order and pay at the counter and then they bring you your food.  Kind of like McDonalds.  Only nicer.  If a restaurant is open for dinner, (a lot of lunch time restaurants aren't) they usually have table service and a server would come to your table to take your order.  When you are finished, you pay at the counter and not at the table.  
• They do celebrate Mardi Gras here.  But it's not like it is in the U.S.  It's considered a gay and lesbian holiday.
• You aren't getting a drink at the water fountain.  You are getting it from the "bubbler."  If you forget that Aussie's use a different word, and you ask where a water fountain is, you will get an odd look and then told the location of the nearest fountain (like the kind in front of someone's house.)
• They use the word timber a lot when describing something made from wood.  It would be a timber shelf or a timber deck.
• They don't say they are going to the bar for a drink.  They would be going to the pub.
• A tattle tale would be a dob.  So the act of tattling would be dobbing.  
• On the playground, they aren't playing the game of tag.  They are playing "tips."
• They don't tip at restaurants, hair dressers, or taxis.  They don't tip at all. It's really quite wonderful.  No more guessing about how much to leave.  In the U.S., I don't mind tipping restaurant servers since they make below minimum wage.  But I don't think tips should be given to people doing their jobs.  Since when is tipping expected rather then being for an extra great job, above and beyond what they are already getting paid for.  I'll get off my soap box now.  
• Here they use milliliters instead of  ounces.  So when cooking, there are times when I need to convert the ounces to millimeters or vice versa.  This is easy because both of those measurements measure volume.  However, butter is a different story.  In the U.S., recipes us butter measured in volume.  You might need a quarter cup of butter, etc.  The wrapping that butter comes in in the U.S. is marked in tablespoons.  Here, they measure butter for recipes by weight.  Their recipes call for grams of butter.  You can't convert grams to tablespoons with my phone app.  I have located a butter converter chart and I keep it inside my kitchen cupboard, right beside the conversion of oven temps from F to C.  
• Crayons are not on school supply lists.  They don't use crayons at school!!  What?!!  But they do use textas. (Textas are fine point markers.)
• Crayola markers can be bought in the U.S. at Walmart for about a dollar.  Sticker shock!!
  
• I hope to post another blog soon!  I've already started a new one!

Tingling vs. Illuminating

Tuesday, June 10th, 2014

Can you believe my last post was March 30th?? I went all of April and all of May without writing a single blog post.  The blog website I use didn't like the newest version of Internet Explorer. I couldn't upload any pictures to the blog.  My blog needs pictures!  So today I installed a new browser for the sole purpose of writing my blog.  Now let's see if I can get you caught up!  So much has happened in the 2 months.

At the beginning of April, Erich's dad Will and his wife Beth arrived for a visit.  They arrived just in time for the Charlie and Chaney's 7th birthday parties!  The parties were a lot of fun.  We had Chaney's party on Saturday and Charlie's on Sunday.  Lets just say, when the weekend was over, I was partied out and we had a LOT of leftover cake.  

Chaney's Party

Chaney chose to have her party at an indoor play place called Kid City.  All the kids got to play and then we got to go into the private room for treats and cake.

Ready for some cake!  (On a side note, there were seven candles on the cake.  I promise.)

This is one big slide and is a big hit with the kids.

Charlie's Party

Charlie had his birthday party at the bowling alley.  Here is Chaney on the left lane and Charlie on the right. 

Once again, I promise there are 7 candles on there...

We had a great birthday weekend! 

They love each other!

Trying out the harmonica he got for his birthday!

Pretty girl with her front teeth growing in! Since this picture is over two months old now, her teeth are all the way grown in!

 

 That's all I'm going to write for now! I promise to add another post soon.  I have to get you all caught up!

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• They don't say, "My favorite subject is Math."  Instead, they say, "My favorite subject is Maths."Even my spell check doesn't like it.  That one will never sound right to me.  Its so weird to hear one of your kids say, "Today in Maths we talked about shapes."
• We have started leaving a light on on the stairs at night when we go to bed.  Chaney has been sleep walking and we don't want her to trip!! Every so often she will emerge from the upstairs bedrooms when Erich and I are still awake.  Her eyes are open, she might nod in response to a question.But she is asleep and won't remember it in the morning. 
•  They don't call it tic tac toe.  In Australia you are playing "knots and crosses."
• They don't call them rain boots.  In Australia you are wearing "gum boots."
• It's interesting to see some of the same U.S. products here with a different name.   You know its manufactured by the same company but it has a completely different name. For example:

  

  This is an ad for the toothpaste Macleans. (And by the way, I don't like the name.  It doesn't make me want to buy their toothpaste.

  Here is the American version:

  

  Aquafresh. Now that's a name of a toothpaste!

  
  
  I did notice one difference.  The Aussie version calls this flavor of toothpaste "illuminating mint." (I'm not really sure I want my mint to be illuminating.) The American version is called "tingling mint." I would much rather be tingling.  Wouldn't you?

Bad Word #1

BIG NEWS!

Charlie lost his first tooth!!  It was only a couple of days ago he first noticed his tooth was loose.  Saturday night at dinner, Charlie bit into a corn cob and it hurt! A few moments later he exclaimed, "I pulled my tooth!" and held the tooth up above his head.  We all cheered! The tooth fairy came for a visit and brought Charlie a $2 gold coin. 

Charlie and his tooth! (and yes, you see a flamingo in my yard.)

Bad Word

Damn it!  Those are the words that came out of my sweet child's mouth when she discovered she didn't have a green marker.  My mouth dropped open and I was speechless.  I wanted to laugh but I knew that was a bad idea.  I asked her what she said and she looked at me and said, "Damn it."    I knew this day was coming.  I'm actually surprised it hasn't happened before now.  Chaney didn't know it was a bad word.  She was repeating a word she had heard someone say.  And I will give her credit, because she used the word correctly!  Erich and I don't cuss (I know its hard to believe), the kids don't watch much TV and the TV they do watch are kid shows, and we don't hang around older kids or adults that curse.  My kids don't know what the actual "bad words" are.  We haven't yet (until Chaney's "Damn it!") encountered a time that we could use as a learning experience to learn about words.   After her exclamation of frustration over not having a green marker, we had a nice talk about that being a bad word that we don't use, even if you hear someone else use it.  It's only a matter of time before one of them drops the big "F bomb."  Hopefully, when it does get used, its in the privacy of our own home and we can have it be another teaching moment!


We got our flu shots the other day.  The kids were so brave.  I was really really proud of them. 

Flu shot battle scars

Charlie earned a Gold Star today at the awards assembly.  Their school has this elaborate reward system.  Let's see if I can get this right... If you get 5 ticks (checkmarks) (these are good), you earn a M&M.  (Not the candy)  You earn 5 M&Ms you get a maroon writstband.  You earn 5 maroon wristbands, you get a white wristband.  You earn 5 white wristbands, you earn a gold star.  It carries over to the next school year.  Charlie is one of a handful of Year One (1st grade) students that have earned a gold star.  And, he missed half of his kindergarten year! As they say in Australia, "Good on ya, Charlie!"

Charlie has a new gold star to wear on his collar when at school.



Tonight, for dessert, we played Candyland with real candy!



The Sydney Paper: 

Ummmm....  Can you do that??! Can you have a headline like that?  No wonder my kid has started cursing!

The School Prize

Thursday, March 27, 2014

The Car Ride

After school I had Charlie and Chaney and their friend Haylie in the car. Charlie had won a prize at school. He was excited and sharing it with the girls. As I’m driving, this is how the conversation in the backseat went: (And remember, in Australia, an eraser is called a rubber.)

 Chaney: Oooooh! Charlie! What do you have?!

Charlie: I earned a prize today! It’s a rubber!

Chaney: It’s a BIG rubber!

Charlie: Yes! I LOVE my big rubber.

Chaney: I wish I had a big rubber. Can I hold it?

Haylie: Charlie, do you have something else in your hand?

Charlie: Nope. Just my big rubber.

Chaney: (whispering) Charlie, hit mommy on the head with your rubber.

*shwack* I get hit in the head.

Lots of giggling from the back seat.

Charlie and his big rubber. 

Do you think it works on burns?

The Erich Dance

Last Friday night, I got to watch Erich move like I've never seen Erich move before. We were enjoying a nice Friday family night.  The kids were jumping on the trampoline while I had a glass of wine on our swing and Erich enjoyed a scotch and a cigar sitting nearby at the table. All of a sudden, Erich jumps up and starts wiggling around slapping his shirt and his shorts. He is moving frantically.  I asked him twice what was wrong and got no response. Erich just kept hitting himself and jumping/dancing around.  He was hitting himself so hard his wedding ring went flying into the grass. At this point the kids have stopped jumping to watch Erich dancing around. The next thing I saw was a spider about the size of my hand fall off of Erich and go galloping across the patio toward the house. (I use the word gallop because that spider was HUGE.) Erich lunged after it and stepped on it. I was speechless. The ginormous spider had fallen from the covered patio and landed on his shorts. Erich said he heard it land on him. (Heard... The spider was big enough to make a sound when it landed...  Think about that...). He had looked down in time to see the spider disappearing into his clothing. (Tell me aren't freaked out right now.)  Let's just say that I had a second glass of wine and Erich a second scotch. And we did eventually find Erich's wedding ring.  I'm buying an umbrella hat to wear in our backyard.

Ziplock Bags

The Australians are on the metric system.  They don't use gallons, quarts, pounds, etc.  This has taken some getting used to, but I've adapted.  Except for ziplock bag sizes.  I know this sounds weird.  I am aware of this.  I can't adapt to ziplock bags being different sizes.  Instead of gallon, they have "large."  The large bags are more narrow but taller.  That won't work for my storage needs. When I need a gallon size bag, I need a GALLON size bag.  Not a "large."   Instead of quart, they have medium.  Not the same. Won't work.  Every time I have to pull one out, I think to myself, "This just isn't the size I need.  Close.  But it's not the same."  I don't want to sound like I've put a lot of thought or energy into this.  I haven't.  So, in case you were concerned about me and my ziplock conumdrum, don't fret.  I found American gallon size ziplock bags at Costco.  And I've imported the quart size.  Its the little things that make you feel like home!

The First School Project

The kids had their first project.  They were to pick a living thing they would find in their garden. (Here they call their backyard their "garden.")  Chaney chose a bee.  Charlie chose a redback spider.  The project was a poster and they needed to include a sentence about where it lives, what it eats, and a random fact. It also needed to include a labeled diagram.  They were allowed to type it and the kids had to be able to read what they wrote. 

Bees

Redback Spider.  (In the same family as a black widow.  Redbacks are only found in Australia)



This is a vegemite and cheese scroll. Our neighbor made them.  I'm the only one that doesn't care for them.  Chaney liked vegemite for the first time!

Charlie and Mommy selfie.

I captured this photo while Chaney was coloring in the playroom.  See the black can of crayons on the floor to her right?  She picks up a crayon, colors in her book, and then drops the crayon on her floor on her left.  All while kickin' back with her feet up. 

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• I just paid a babysitter $20 an hour.  Twenty.  Dollars.  An.  Hour. We were gone 3 hours and BAM! $60 gone.

  

  Date Night!! $60 well spent!

  
  
• 
  
  Here, they will say something like, "It's only four more sleeps until the weekend."   "Only two more sleeps until they arrive."
• 
  
  When Chaney says, "I have a mozzie bite," what she is saying is "I have a mosquito bite."
• 
  
  The other day I heard Chaney say, "I sparkle through the night."  I love her. I just thought that quote is worth repeating.
• 
  
  We've started leaving a light on a night so the stairs are lit up.  Chaney has been sleep walking.  We don't want her to trip on the stairs. 
• 
  
  If you have a "sticky beak", you get in other people's business.
• 
  
  Here in Australia, when you pick up the phone, the dial tone is different than in the U.S. 
• 
  
  Crayons are not on the school supply list. 
• 
  
  In the U.S., the military can go to "sick call" when they want to see the doctor.  Here they go to "sick parade."  Sick parade sounds a lot more fun.

I'm Going to Use a Rubber

Monday, March 17th, 2014

I'm back!! I realize it's been over two months since I've posted a blog post. I have so much to share!  We enjoyed our time in Melbourne. My parents came to visit. The kids started year one (first grade) in February. (I'm still in shock over this fact!)  Over my next several posts, I will post pictures about these big events.  I have so much to catch you up on! 


Part of the reason I haven't posted in a while is that I'm having trouble uploading pictures from my computer. It has to do with the version of Internet Explorer that I'm using.  So, I decided to use my iphone app to add pictures and the computer website to add text.  This is not working out so well since the spacing is off.  Please bear with me as I get it taken care of!




Today was St. Patrick's Day! The kids were allowed to wear some green with their uniforms.

For my birthday on March 7th, Erich woke up early and blew up 60+ balloons. He had more to blow up but he ended up rubbing a blister on his finger tying the balloons. Now that is true love! That night, we put the balloons in the trampoline for the kids to play with.  They had a great time!

This is a size Medium drink at McDonald's. This is a child's size in the U.S. Sometimes I'll order a small drink by mistake remembering my days in the U.S.  A small is like three swallows.

Chaney shows off her strength!

Chaney drew an Easter picture for her teacher.

Chaney's Easter Picture.  Do you see the Easter Bunny on the left, right beside Jesus on the cross?

Charlie has on his sunscreen and his sunnies (sunglasses) and he is ready to play outside!

This picture is First Day of First Grade!! Where did the summer go? This is the first year the twins are in separate classes. They are loving school!! After I dropped the kids at school, I went home to watch the Super Bowl. At ten o'clock in the morning. With no fun advertisements. While drinking coffee.

First day of Year One! The kids are in  separate classes this year.

Chaney on her scooter on the bike path near our house.

Charlie on his bike! Riding on the left like every other good Aussie!

Eggs come with feathers! No extra charge!

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• People use the word "heaps" a lot. For example:  I have heaps of chips.  (and that could mean potato chips or French fries.  You never know. They use both.) There are heaps of choices.  I love you heaps.  When I asked Chaney to use the word heaps in a sentence, she said, "I have heaps of games on my Kindle."  When I asked Charlie to use the word in a sentence he said, "I have heaps of buttons."  I miss you all heaps.
• Right now the kids love the Katie Perry song "Roar."
• Charlie just said, "I need one more go."  He was saying he needed one more chance.  In Australia, you "give it a go." I am now raising little Aussies. 
• It is common for hotels not to have a 24 hour front desk.  The last hotel we stayed at had reception from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.  And I think I've mentioned before that the hotels don't have ice machines. No ice! Ever! (I didn't know how much I missed ice until I go to a hotel and can't get it or I'm served luke warm water at a restaurant.)  And they don't have soda or snack machines either. But they always have wine glasses in the room.   They don't have the mini coffee makers.  But they have an electric kettle so you can make the instant coffee or brew the tea bags they provide.  
• At some restaurants, the food arrives when the kitchen is finished with each individual plate.  That means that each person's food arrives at different times.  Me not like.
• I guess I live in my own little world because I am occasionally still surprised when I talk to someone and when they reply to me they have an Australian accent.  It's been over 7 months since we arrived.  You would think that I would be over it by now.
• Charlie ordered a cheese and vegemite sandwich at a café recently. I'm speechless.
• We have noticed that calamari is almost always on a restaurant menu. 
• In Australia, it's not a flashlight.  It's a torch.
• In Australia, it's not crown molding.  It's architraves.
• In Australia, you don't get pregnant.  You fall pregnant.
• In the United States, someone would say this sentence, "I live on Main Street."  In Australia, someone would say, "I live in Main Street."
• Did you know that the world's largest camel population is in Australia? Yep!
• You know you aren't in the United States any more when you are listening to the radio and you hear the DJ ask how to pronounce the name Ricardo.
• A quote from Charlie:   "Chaney, you are my BFF."  (My sweet boy!)
• A quote from Chaney:  "I'm going to use a rubber."
  (In Australia, a rubber is an eraser. I know this and I still want to die each time one of my kids says it.)

Don't Put Under Sunshine

Saturday, January 4th, 2014

Happy New Year!!

Our friends, an American family, live in an apartment on Lake Burley Griffin, the lake the city is centered around. On New Year's Eve, Canberra puts on a 9:00 pm "kids" fireworks show and then another show at midnight over the lake.  We went to our friends' apartment for dinner and to watch the early show.  The kids also did sparklers on their roof terrace.  We had a great time!  We left around 10:30 to get the kids home to bed.  Midnight is still a bit late for them.  On the way home we got pulled over for a RBT (Random Breath Test). The Aussies do these frequently and at all hours of the day and night.  This is Erich's second RBT in a month.  They have a section of the road where they flag down and pull over random vehicles.  They then ask you to loudly count to ten towards a machine they are holding near your mouth.  You don't have to blow into anything. The first time Erich was given the RBT was on his way home from work in the afternoon.  Of course Erich passed with flying colors both times.  I really wish I had snapped a picture! When we got home we put the kids to bed and stayed up to midnight and rang in the new year watching the Sydney fireworks on TV.

Charlie and Chaney watching the fireworks.
Chaney is in the red jacket and Charlie is on the far right.

On New Years Day we went to another American family's house for some traditional southern new years day food and to watch the Texas A&M vs Duke football bowl game. Among other things, we had black eyed peas, cabbage, pulled pork, and pecan pie.  At the end of the game when we were getting ready to leave, the tv was turned to watch the NYC ball drop live. The best way I can describe it was like an out of body experience. I know that we are like a ton of hours ahead of you guys.  I get that.  But seeing the ball drop was surreal since it felt like we had done that such a long time before. 

Erich got our new grill up and running.  We have used it twice.  We really enjoy our flat-top-griddle-free grill!

The Grill Master in action.

Yummy!

So today we left Canberra and drove 7 hours to Melbourne.  I am currently hanging out in our hotel room.  The kids are asleep so we are having to be quiet. 

Driving to Melbourne!

(the driver's eyes were not removed from the
 highway during the taking of this photo.)

My Random Thoughts & Observations...

• For Australian addresses, their postal (zip) codes have four numbers.  Ours is 2617. In the U.S. the zip codes have five numbers. But I guess you already knew that...  The Aussie state abbreviations are three letters.  Ours is ACT. (Australian Capital Territory) I don't need to tell you how many letters are in the U.S. state abbreviations... 
• Driving to Melbourne, the highway crossed over several creeks.  There was always a sign to tell us the name of the creek.  There was "Craphole Creek."  (I kid you not.)  There was also 7 mile creek, 11 mile creek, 15 mile creek, and about 3 other "________ Mile Creek."  We were curious as to why the creeks are called 11 Mile Creek instead of using the word Kilometer.  They don't use miles over here, they use kilometers.  So why?  Maybe "11 Mile Creek" is easier to say than "17.702784 Kilometer Creek."  But it does have a ring to it, doesn't it?
• The Aussies don't call it a highway they call it a motorway.  And when I hear this word, it's like cueing the music in my head, "Get your motor runnin. Head out on the highway."  (I am perfectly aware that I am a freak.  I've accepted it.  So should you.) (Did you know cueing could be spelled cuing or cueing? I looked it up and now I'm passing my knowledge on to you.  Interesting stuff you learn on this blog, right?) 
 
• The toilet in our hotel bathroom has a warning sticker on the inside of the lid.  Check it.  I really don't know what to think...

Here you can see the warning sticker on the raised toilet lid.





Ummm.....   (cricket)
Yep.  I bet you are speechless too.
Still scratching my head on this one.
But one thing is clear.
Whatever you do, never, ever
put your toilet under sunshine.
Ever.