Van Gogh

Monday, August 5, 2013 

Today didn't start off that great.  At school it was picture day so I decided to trim Chaney's bangs and trim the hair over Charlie's ears.  Let's just say I tried to make Charlie look like Picasso Van Gogh...  I nicked his hear with the scissors.  Ears bleed a LOT.  I felt HORRIBLE.  Horrible.  I decided to skip doing Chaney's hair.  His ear is fine and it eventually stopped bleeding.

Once at school, Chaney had a hard time with me leaving again.  :(  The teacher had to restrain her as she cried.  I quickly left.  School pictures were first thing for their class.  It will be interesting to see how hers turn out. 

Today I made my first trip to the supermarket by myself.  I'm still amazed at how expensive things are.  I know I keep mentioning this but I can't get over it! When I was checking out, I was talking to the cashier.  She asked where in the U.S. I was from.  When I told her Missouri, she said, "My sister-in-law lives in Missouri.  Near Kansas City in Gladstone."  Shut the front door. 

And have I mentioned the kid's teacher's names? They have two teachers. Ms. Godschlacks (pronounced God-shocks) (quite appropriate for Catholic school!)  and Ms. Rheinberger.  Now, those are two big mouthfuls!!

Driving is going really well.  It's so interesting.  Today, I walked to the wrong side and opened the front passenger door.  Nope, wrong side! Some things are done so automatically.  I never realized how automatic it is for me to reach over my left shoulder to grab the seat belt while sitting in the driver's seat.  I also find myself reaching for the gear shift on the right, turning on the wipers instead of the blinker, and even looking up to the right to check the rear view mirrors.

Erich is gone tonight to Adelaide.  He gets home tomorrow night late, after the kids are asleep.  Tonight he is staying on an Australian Air Force Base.  He is supposed to pick up the key to his room at the gate when he drives on base.  All we know about the room is that is has a communal bathroom down the hall.  Sounds charming.

Thoughts and Observations...

• Did you know that in Australia, if you leave your car in Drive and turn your car off, you can still remove the keys and walk away?  Lets just say it's a VERY good thing that I chose a parking spot that was not on a hill...
• Parking lots are called "car parks."  When I hear this, I think of my car swinging on a swing and going down a slide.
• The Aussie standard size paper is different.  Its a tad bit more narrow and taller compared to our 8.5 x 11 inch paper.  Its those silly little differences I never even thought of and that I find the most fascinating. 
• Maple syrup-I looked everywhere for it at the store today.  I asked a clerk where pancake syrup was and I got a blank stare.  I had to explain what it was.  Who knew to look by ice cream cones and chocolate syrup for the maple syrup! Makes perfect sense to put it there. I always put maple syrup on my ice cream cones. 
• TV shows don't necessarily start on the hour and half hour.  They start when the show before it is over.  Tonight I watched a show that started at 8:10 and ended at 9:47. 
• I just put it together that I'm spending over 2 hours a day in the car driving the kids to and from school.  I will be SO glad when we live 2 km away from the school!
• Hot dogs are completely different.  I wouldn't even say they are the same at all.  Except the shape.  Here is our hot dog cooking:

I'm sorry.  I can't stop laughing.



Blogger's Edit:  I am an idiot.  I used Picasso's name in the original posting of this blog. Instead of Van Gogh.  Duh! Only four people read the blog before I made the change and one was my mother. What a relief!

The National Arboretum

Sunday, August 4th, 2013

Erich took the kids today to the National Arboretum to play on their new playground.  They had a great time.  I had some quiet time to fold laundry in the apartment. 




The playground

 

 

Having a snack at the Arboretum

 

Conversation between Chaney and Erich at the (windy) Arboretum:

Chaney: I hate dust blowing.  It gets in my eyes.

Erich: I agree. It's a pain in the butt.

Chaney: No, Daddy!  It's in the eyes!

Breakfast shenanigans.

Chaney pauses eating her Rice Bubbles (aka Rice Krispies) to give
me this face. (followed up with an eye roll.)

The flowers Erich gave me for our anniversary.

Thoughts and Observations...

• Do you know what they Aussies call the sprinkles you put on cookies, cakes, and ice cream? They call them "100's & 1000's."   ("hundreds and thousands")    No joke.

 

• Tonight Charlie was having a tough time going to sleep.  I told him he needed to turn off his brain so he could fall asleep.  He informed me that he couldn't do that because he "needs his brain to breathe."  True. 

New Car & Helium Balloons

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Today Erich and I celebrate 16 years of wedded bliss.  He went out with the kids this morning and came back with flowers.  *love*  Because of the changes we've been going through, we really didn't make a big deal out of the whole day.  We ended up having dinner in.  We had an American classics for dinner.  Macaroni and cheese and buffalo chicken tenders with ranch.  Not very romantic.  But we all loved the US food. 

Today was the first day we had to put gas in our rental car.  There are no pay-at-the-pumps in Australia.  What??!  I have to unload the kids to go in and pay?  Today we were all together so the kids didn't have to get out.   Erich went inside to ask, "Do we have to prepay to pump gas?"  The cashier's response was that they don't sell gas at the pump.  They don't call it gas.  They call it petrol. Gas to them means propane. 

The Bird

Have you seen the video of the goats that sound like humans yelling?  Its totally legit and we laugh EVERY time we watch it. Hilarious. If you haven't seen it, watch it here (my favorites are the second and last goat):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpccpglnNf0

There is a bird here that sounds like a human yelling very similar to the goats in that video.  I haven't yet spotted the bird.  But the first two mornings here I thought it was a child yelling outside our window.  Wrong.  Its a bird!  Its the most bizarre thing.

Our new car!

Today we bought one of our cars.  We bought a brand new Toyota Corolla from the dealership.  We hadn't planned on buying new cars, but we got a really great deal and it will be easier to resell the car when we leave in 3 years.  We are still waiting for our transfer of funds from the U.S. but hopefully we will have the car on Wednesday or Thursday. We are looking for the 2nd car.


The new car.

 

Steering wheel on the wrong side.



The kids got balloons in the Toyota showroom. 

The kids used the balloons they got at the dealership to have fun at home.  They had fun attaching the balloons to an empty Happy Meal box to see how many balloons it took to get the box off the ground.  Once they succeed in that, they tried to see if they could put anything in the box and keep it off the ground.  One paperclip made it fall to the ground!  Right now, as I type this, Charlie has the stopwatch on Erich's phone going.  He has four balloons attached to two pieces of paper.  He is timing to see how long it takes the paper to touch the ground. 

Attaching the balloons to the Happy Meal box.

 

It's off the ground!!!

Random Thoughts and Observations...

• You can't buy ranch dressing around here.  I had been told this and came prepared.  They won't let bottles of ranch through customs, but the will allow the dry packets.  So I've made ranch dressing and the kids use it all the time.  Even on apples...  (yuck)
• They have McDonalds here! The kids (and me) love this.  But they don't have ranch for the chicken nuggets! 
• "Tires" is spelled "tyres". 
• They show full male and female nudity and drop the f*** bomb on regular television. 
• There is no bathtub in our apartment.  The kids miss the bathtub.
• I'm telling Erich we are celebrating our anniversary today in Australia, Saturday, August 3rd.  And we will celebrate again on Sunday, which is August 3rd in the U.S.   Brilliant!

Friday Night

Friday Night, August 2, 2013

It's Friday night and and the kids are in bed.  Erich and I are both on our computers.  He is looking at cars to buy so we can take back our hire (rental car).  I am looking at restaurants.  Tomorrow we will be celebrating our 16th anniversary!  We would like to go out to a restaurant (with the kids--not leaving them with a sitter yet!) and we are having trouble finding something.  There are a lot of restaurants in Canberra.  Most require bookings (reservations).  At a lot of the restaurants you order at the bar and then the food is brought out to you when its ready.  We have heard a lot about how Australia lacks in customer service and a lot of the reviews online reflect that.  We are having trouble finding a place that is open for dinner, that has menu items a 6 year old would eat, and that takes a booking for four people, and has decent customer service so we aren't there for 3 hours.  (3 hours would be fine if we didn't have two little ones with us!) 

Tipping here is not routinely done.  So, a waiter doesn't care if they have 4 tables in 6 hours or 20 tables in 6 hours.  Their pay will be the same since they are paid by the hour.  No tip and so no reason so take care of you.

Vegemite

So we bought our first jar of vegemite.  We are determined to try all the local stuff without judging it first.  I haven't tried it yet, but Erich did!

 

We bought the smallest jar.

Erich preparing it the "correct" way.  On toast with butter and a thin spread of the vegemite.
 

Erich tried one bite and decided to add more vegemite.  Charlie tried it and liked it.  So did Erich!

Random thoughts and observations...

• I'm disappointed that Australian Rules Football isn't like American football at all.  They don't wear pads and I think it looks more like a rugby game then a football game.  :(
• The sky appears bluer here.  I don't know if its my imagination or if I'm going crazy or what.  But the sky is beautiful. 
• Grocery stores are in malls.  I haven't yet found a grocery store that isn't in a mall.  (I hate malls.)
• Food here spoils more quickly then in the U.S.  They use less preservatives.  (That means more trips to the mall.)
• I drove by myself to pick up the kids from school.  I did so without killing anyone or any animal.  Success.  I then drove everyone back to the apartment.  Another success.
• I spent $8 on a bag of grapes the other day and $5 on a can of Pringles.  I still can't get over the prices!  Because of the prices, I do think twice before buying something and I try not to waste any food.  So I guess that's the bright side!
• I've had a lot of the other kindergarten moms come up and introduce themselves.  I like that they are so kind.  Charlie got an invitation in his backpack for a birthday party.  The mom included a note that said her son invited all the boys in the class but Chaney was more then welcome to join.  I thought that was incredibly sweet. 

Our Temporary Digs

Friday, August 2, 2013 (The dates here in Australia don't always match up with the Blogger website! It's that tricky international dateline!)

Until our household goods arrive (hopefully in September) we are staying in the Burbury Hotel apartments.  Our temporary digs are only about 5 minutes from the nation's capitol building.  The apartment is large and open which is perfect for the kids.  The only real complaint I have is that it's all white.  And very modern.  So, for me it seems very sterile.  I look forward to getting our household goods and setting up our homey home.  We are about 10 minutes from the US Embassy, about 10 minutes away from Erich's work, and 35 minutes from the kids school.  (Their school is less then 2 km from our house) 

 

The kitchen and dining area.  The lighting isn't good in the
kitchen and I had to bring in a floor lamp. 

Our living room is open to the dining area. 

The other half of the living room.

There are two bedrooms just like this.  The master has a bathroom and the
other bathroom is in the hallway.  There is also a laundry room with a washer and dryer. 

This is the patio right off of our living room.  It is completely fenced
off so I will let the kids play out there during the day.
 

I can't believe we have already been here a week!  We are getting pretty settled in the apartment. 

Today was the kids' second day of school.  Drop off went really well!  We did not go in for morning prayer.

Today I'm driving out to the kids' school by myself to pick them up.  Let me repeat.  I am driving by myself for the first time.  I'm a little nervous.  Especially since its a 35 minute drive with a lot of turns.  Thank goodness for the GPS.  I'll let you know how it goes!

First Day of School!!

Thursday, August 1st, 2013

Today was the first day of Kindergarten for Charlie and Chaney!  Even though the children are not allowed to wear jewelry, I had given Chaney a tiny silver heart locket with a picture of Erich and me inside.  I told her she could wear it under her shirt and feel for it if she started missing us.  I gave Charlie a cool green luggage tag with a red kangaroo on one side and a picture of Erich and I in the other side (where your name tag would go).  I  didn't plan it really well and forgot we didn't have a printer here to print a picture.  Luckily, Erich carries a picture of the two of us in his wallet!  The picture is 8 years old but luckily Charlie recognized us! ;) 

After visiting the school yesterday, Charlie has been very, VERY excited about school.  Chaney not so much.  She has been very nervous and very worried.  We have been doing our best to make her feel good about this big event.  She crawled in bed with me this morning at 4:45 and told me she was worried about school. 

Erich had to run out this morning and get sandwich ziplock bags, reusable water bottles, and lunch bags.  I totally forgot until late last night that we didn't have that stuff with us here at the hotel.  The kids loved their new lunch bags and showed them off when they got to school.

Our First Day of Kindergarten!
On the front steps of our hotel apartment, Canberra, Australia.
They are wearing their sports uniform today. 

 Walking up to school!

Going to School

When we arrived at school, we join the other kids on the playground by the classroom.  A little girl we met yesterday when visiting, ran up and gave Chaney a hug. (*love*) Charlie and Chaney went off and joined other kindergarteners.  Things were going well!!  The class then lined up and the teacher came out. Charlie and Chaney were in line with the class!  They still had no tears, etc. I thought we were home free!  They kids all followed the teacher into the classroom.  Erich and I looked at each other.  This was going really well!  We thought we were home free.  And then the other parents followed the class into the classroom.  Uh oh.  We should've just left then. 

The parents can go into the classroom and stay for the morning prayer.  So we followed along.  After the morning prayer and song, The teacher said, "If you have a guest, its time to say goodbye."  Well, Chaney latched onto me and wouldn't let go.  Charlie came and gave me a kiss and said,"I'll see you in six hours!" Chaney started crying and wouldn't let me go.  When I was able to break free and the teacher took Chaney, I made it to the hall and then I started to cry.  :(  I could hear her down the hall, "I want my mommy."  I knew she would be better within 5-10 minutes but it was still heartbreaking. 

After School

The kids were excited to see us.  They both made some good friends. The teachers said they did a great job and Chaney calmed down about 5 minutes after we left.  After we got home, we had a First Day of School Party.  The kids had been wanting the as-seen-on-TV Ice Cream Magic.  Its an individual ice cream maker that you shake to make the ice cream.  We surprised them with their own Ice Cream Magic and shook away.  They were very excited. 

Showing off their Ice Cream Magic.

Shake! Shake! Shake!

This is Chaney taking a break from the shaking.

Daddy taking his turn at shaking.

 

Charlie is ready to go back to school.  Chaney says she doesn't want to go back to kindergarten.  We will see how tomorrow goes!

Random thoughts and observations...

• When the Aussies say beach, it sounds like "bitch."
• I've been doing more driving.  It's been going well.  I'm only turning on the wipers for the turn signal about 20% of the time.  That's a great improvement from yesterday's 80%!
• The washing machine in the house we will be living in is extremely small.  Will probably do two towels OR two pairs adult jeans. 

Embassy, School and Driving

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Wow.  What a busy day!  Today the kids and I got to go to the US Embassy.  They don't mess around with security!  I got my US Embassy badge so I'm now official.  Everyone at the Embassy was really nice.  It was nice to see the Stars and Stripes flying! I also got to see where we will collect our mail from our DPO post box.

After our time at the Embassy, we made the journey to visit Charlie and Chaney's school.  They start kindergarten tomorrow!  I'm so excited for them.  They will be attending St. Monica's Primary School about 2 km away from the house we are renting (but don't yet live in).  When we arrived at the school, Charlie just wanted to chat everyone's ear off. (not surprising) Chaney was a little nervous and hid behind me. (not surprising) They got to see their classroom, meet their teachers, and meet a few kids that will sit at their tables.  They are in the same class but they have one teacher that works Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and another teacher that works Wednesday and Friday.  We bought the school uniforms and I think we are all set for tomorrow! 

I really can't believe they start kindergarten tomorrow.  I'm a little sad to see them go off to school full time.  But, it is time!  I'm so proud of them.  They are handling all these changes so well.  In the last week, we moved into a new country, moved into a temporary apartment, and tomorrow will start school.  They will do a great job in kindergarten even though they have missed half of the year.  (The Australian school year runs February through December.)

"I LOVE it! I loved everything. Especially the library."--Charlie, when asked if he liked his new school. 

More quotes from Charlie:
"I'm so excited for school tomorrow.  I'm more excited then going to Chuck E Cheese. MORE EXCITED! This is the most excited I've ever been.  I just love libraries."

(Chaney is more nervous for school.  I'm sure once she goes tomorrow, she will love it too.)

Today I drove for the first time!  I wanted to pass out the entire time.  But I did it.  Erich was a big help. 

Random thoughts and observations...

• I saw my first kangaroo road kill today.  (No, I didn't cause the road kill.)
• The Australians drive either slow or very fast.
• It is beautiful here.  I can't wait until things slow down a bit and I can enjoy it a little more.
• At school, the kids have a snack of fruit in the morning while they work.  Then they have tea time around 11:00 and then lunch at 1:00.  Tea time is another snack.  We send all the food with them in the morning.  There is a canteen (cafeteria) where the kids can buy food.  Some of the items I would like to sample (ok, not really) from the canteen are:  Honey and Vegemite sandwich on wholemeal bread and a spaghetti/baked bean/cheese jaffle. (All three inside a sandwich grilled with the edges sealed.)  Sounds yummy, right?!
• Australian bacon is like ham - why even bother??