Toilets and Toilet Paper

Sunday, December 29th, 2013

My Random Thoughts and Observations... (Hang on to your pants.  I've got a lot of randomness to share today.)

• They put butter on most sandwiches.  They use it instead of mayo. (But they do have mayonnaise but it is typically whole egg mayo. Yuck.)   At work, Erich likes to get a cream cheese with capers, smoked salmon, and rocket (lettuce) sandwich.  They put butter on it too.  Even with the cream cheese on the sandwich, they need to add more spreadable fat. We try to order without it...if we remember...
• Here in Australia everyone has a barbie (grill) in their backyard.  We left our grill in storage in the U.S. because we didn't think it would pass the Australian customs quarantine inspection.  So Erich has been shopping for a new grill for us so we can "throw some shrimp on the barbie."  He has discovered that all grills sold down under have half the grill space replaced with a griddle hotplate. (see example below)  Apparently the griddle is there so you can do your breakfast eggs and pancakes on the barbie. I know what you are thinking right now.  You are thinking that that is what you've been missing out of in America.  In the U.S. we haven't been using our grill to cook up some eggs over easy and blueberry pancakes in the morning. I know you are thinking that you wish you could run out and buy a griddle/grill combo. Don't be jealous.   We weren't interested in this at all and ended up having to spend a lot more money to get a grill large enough to grill 8 hamburgers at once.
  
• They call yellow mustard "yellow mustard" or "American mustard."  Boo-ya.
• They don't have elbow macaroni here. 
• There isn't much internet shopping here.  Most big businesses have websites, but not all of them sell their things.  Erich and I were both noticing that a lot of websites are difficult to maneuver and clunky.  It is so interesting.  After being a hard core internet shopper for the past 6 years, I find this so interesting.  How can it be?
• We call the hair that frames your face "bangs."  They call it "fringe."
• When we play the game, we say, "rock, paper, scissors."  They say "scissors, paper, rock."
• Lawn bowling is big here.  There are lawn bowling places all around.  For Erich's office Christmas party, the office took off an afternoon and they went lawn bowling.  Below you will find a picture of Erich lawn bowling.  Yes, he is barefoot. (on the bowling green they have to wear flat shoes or go barefoot.)  And yes, he is sporting an Aussie hat. 
  
• If someone is having you over for drinks and "nibblies", they are having you over for drinks and snacks. 
• Australian tradies (short for tradesman) wear bright neon colored shirts. 
• Charlie and Chaney will be split for year one (first grade) next year.  They seem to be fine with this.  It is breaking my heart a little bit.  I really can't explain it and maybe you could only really understand if you have twins.  They have always been together.  Always.  So, while I know separating them is the right thing to do so they can shine individually, it makes me a little sad.
• It has started.  The children are learning new words and pronouncing them the Australian way.  Since they are attending an Australian school (there are no DOD schools here) they are surrounded all day by the Australian accent.  When they learn a new word at school, they learn it the Aussie way.  I believe I told you that they learned the color word maroon since arriving.  They pronounce it "ma-rone" with a long O.  Next year Chaney will have Mrs. Stewart for year one. Since they have only heard her name at school, they are saying it the way they hear the Aussies say it.  "Stew-it."  Erich and I have had the discussion before with other Australians that we should pronounce someone's name the way we would say it in the U.S.  That is what having an "American accent" means. 
• In the past 5 months of living in Australia, I've seen ONE public toilet with an automatic flush. And not only are the toilets not automatic, you can't use your foot to flush.  The public toilets flush with a button on top of the back tank that pushes down into the tank.  I'd like to see someone flush that with their foot.  That would be pure talent.
  
• On our drive from the coast back to Canberra, a car passed us.  It had an Obama election sticker. Ummmm...  What??
• When you say "thank you" to an Australian, you will not get the typical "you're welcome" response you would get in the U.S.  The Australians reply "that's okay" or "no worries."
• A pick-up truck in Australia is called a "ute."  (Which I believe is just shortened from the word utility.) Utes are not like the big, badass pick up trucks you see in the U.S.  Most are small.  And a lot of the ones we have seen are half car, half truck.  Our neighbor, a tradie who installs fences, has one.  Check it.  And speaking of small vehicles, I know I mentioned this in one of my early posts but its worth mentioning again.  The large majority of vehicles you see on the street are compact cars.  You rarely see a "people mover" (minivan) or what we would call a SUV.  Imagine going to drop your kids off at school and only seeing 3 or 4 minivans.  And the ones that do have minivans have three or more children. 

  

  Car in the front.  Truck in the back.

• It might be 95 degrees outside, but it is the Christmas season.  So Chaney still wants to have hot chocolate.  Charlie stuck with cold chocolate milk. I guess its not Christmas without hot chocolate.
  
• Do you remember the Toyota slogan in the 1970's? "Oh what a feeling! Toyota!" (Followed by the Toyota jump.)  They are using that slogan here in Australia... Forty years later...
• Have you ever seen bananas this big??  That, my friends, is a 12 inch ruler next to the bunch.  Wow. Wow.
  
• I noticed that I didn't see anyone do any "holiday baking."  No Christmas cookies, fudge, pies, etc.  I'm not sure if this is because it's summer and they don't want to heat up the kitchen.  Or if they are just healthier here.  Who knows.  We stuck with our American roots and made brownies with peppermint frosting.  Yummy!

  

• Our Elf on the Shelf has been busy.

  

  Overnight, Louie decorated our tree with a roll of toilet paper. Sneaky fella!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Happy (Belated) Christmas!

Sunday, December 29th, 2013

Well, this is my 50th blog post! I know I haven't been doing posts as frequently lately.  Things have just been busy!  Maybe in the new year I can post more often.

Santa at the Embassy Christmas party. 
In case you couldn't tell, Chaney wasn't into Santa AT ALL. 
You will see Santa is holding Charlie's list. 
He couldn't go because he was sick. This is in the
Ambassador's residence on the grounds of the U.S. Embassy.

Our Elf Louie continues to hide each day.  He usually sticks around until mid January. Here he decorated a picture grouping on the wall.  As a side note, we can't put holes in the walls so everything (except the iron scroll) is hanging with the 3M Command strips. I've used them everywhere.  The iron scroll is attached to a hook that we did not install.  It had been done by the previous renters.

Last Day of Kindergarten!  (*tear*)  After school we had a "School's Out" party.  We had fun snacks, lemonade (Sprite), and turned the sprinkler on under the trampoline.  Lots of fun!  I now have first graders living in our house.  Or as the Aussies would say, I now have kids in year one living in our house. 

 

Santa at the Mall

We took the kids to the mall to meet Santa.  Charlie walked right up to Santa and went over his list.  Chaney hung in the back.  After a while Chaney made her way over to be in a picture.  But she didn't want to talk to him and she never got too close.  But we got a picture!

I was really caught off guard when Santa had an Australian accent.  I shouldn't have been surprised.  I mean DUH!  But I was. 


Charlie shares his extensive list with Santa. He is pointing out how stickers mark his top favorite toys.

Australian Love

We've been lucky enough to meet some great people since we've been here.  Three different Australian families invited us into their homes this holiday.  Christmas Eve we went to a neighbors.  Christmas Day we went to another neighbors.  And on Boxing Day we went to a house of a girl from the kids' kindergarten class. 

Christmas Eve

We enjoyed our Christmas Eve evening at our friend's house.  They live around the corner and down the street.  Our other good friends and neighbors, the Flemings, were also there.  And in true Aussie style, we had sausages and chicken skewers from the barbie for dinner. 

Striking a pose while grazing at the food table.

Chaney and her friend, H. (I'm not going to use her whole name.)

We left cookies for Santa.  We of course left Aussie hundreds and thousands cookies
(cookies with sprinkles), Timtams, and oreo truffle balls. 



Our tree on Christmas Eve night. 

 On Christmas Eve I also got my Christmas gift.  I got a new lens for my camera.  For those of you that know about cameras, I got the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens.  Bottom line is that this is the lens that will stay on my camera most of the time.  It allows me to take pictures without flash in lower light. I love it!

 Christmas Day

Let the madness begin!

Gifts from Santa.  Chaney received a FurReal Friend.  Its a cat named Daisy that meows and snuggles, etc.  Ever since we lived in the hotel apartment when we first arrived, Charlie has wanted a safe like the one the hotel room had.  It was important that the safe have a punch keypad.  But Santa was also smart and made sure it could also could be opened with the "mommy back-up key."  That Santa sure is a smart one.

We continued our tradition of having pancakes after we open our gifts.

Later on Christmas Day, we went over to our neighbor's house and joined their extended family for a traditional cold meat Christmas meal.  It's too hot to cook inside.  So in Australia they have cold cuts or something from the barbie on Christmas day.


Chaney and H enjoying dessert.  Jelly (Jell-O) and ice cream.   Yes,  Jell-O and ice cream. The Aussies couldn't believe that we hadn't heard or tried this before.  Go scoop you up some ice cream and put some Jell-O on the side.  Let me know how you like it.  (And H isn't unhappy, she is chewing her Jell-O and ice cream.)



Our neighbor's visiting relative gave tips to Charlie on the game of cricket
and how to hold the bat.  This is a good thing since we are clueless
about the game and can't help him one little bit.

Our neighbors skyping with their sister-in-law who is visiting in the U.S.
(You might notice the destroyed gingerbread house on the
 table.  Renee let the kids destroy and nibble on the gingerbread
house they put together.)

 Boxing Day

For those of you that don't know, Boxing Day is the day after Christmas.  In Australia, Boxing Day is a day of big sales. Similar, but in no way comparable, is Black Friday in the U.S.   I think the U.S. needs another holiday!!

Doesn't this look delicious!  It was!  This is Pavlova, a traditional
Aussie dessert.  Our friends who we spent Boxing Day with
made this.  We also had traditional lamb and sausages from
the barbie.  (My autocorrect keeps
wanting to capitalize the word barbie.)

Holiday

 In Australia, they use the word holiday like we use the word vacation or break.  For example, someone in the U.S. might ask you, "What are your plans over the holiday break?"  In Australia they would ask, "What are your plans over holiday?"   Now, in this great land I live in, the whole entire country takes holiday at the same time.  The same time.  The holiday over the Christmas and New Year's season is the same for everyone.  Schools all over the continent break at the same time (give or take a week or two) for the summer.   I'm still figuring this out, but from what I figure, most service providers take holiday and completely shut down for two to three weeks.  So, for example, the kids speech therapy clinic closed down the week before Christmas and won't open again until the second week of January. Same goes for my hair dresser, the car repair place, and any tradie (the Aussie word for tradesman).  Hope you don't need to get a leaky toilet fixed over the next three weeks!  Everyone is on vacation at the same time.  (Grocery stores and malls are still open.) This is totally natural and expected.  I find it a bit unsettling that if I had a hair emergency, I couldn't ring and get a booking to get it taken care of.  (Like how I used the Aussie words "ring" and "booking"?  I'm starting to get the hang of this!)   

In Canberra, the only big city not located near the coast, Canberrans are known for heading to "The Coast." This specifically refers to the coast in New South Wales, the state that the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) is located in. If you want to go to "The Coast" you need to make a booking 6-8 months ahead of time.  Everything fills up at crazy prices with week long minimum stays. 

And by the way, they say "Happy Christmas" here.  It sounds off to me.  Go ahead and try to say it.  It's kinda like saying "Merry New Year."  Also, they frequently call Santa "Father Christmas."  Okey dokey. 

 A final note...

Wow.  This has been one long blog post!  We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday.  I miss everyone, friends and family, very much.  I am not going to proof read or reread my blog post tonight.  I always do that!  But it is 1:30 in the morning and this has taken me much longer than I thought it would.  So forgive any typos, etc. 
So, Merry (belated) Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Sunday, December 15, 2013

St. Monica's Christmas Nativity

On Friday, Charlie and Chaney's school put on the Christmas Nativity.  It was done totally by the three kindergarten classes.  Chaney had the very important role of Angel Gabriel.  Charlie had an equally important role of Christmas Star. It was very well done and adorable! Erich and I had front row seats so we got some good pictures.  I really wish you could've seen it! 

The Kindergarten Classes performing the Christmas Nativity



Angel Gabriel had a special seat.

Charlie really gets into the song and dance.

The Angel arrives to tell Mary she would have a baby.

The star takes his job very seriously.

Charlie, the Christmas Star, shines over the Holy Family.

Angel Gabriel is on her way to spread the word to the wise men.

 

 

 

Charlie and Chaney with their Kindergarten teacher

Charlie and Chaney did a great job!  After the nativity, we took the kids home early with us.  And soon after that, Charlie started crying in pain. He had a horrible tummy ache and was rolling around in pain.  I felt so bad for him.  And then he threw up.  Joy.

U.S. Embassy Family Christmas Party

Friday afternoon was also the U.S. Embassy Family Christmas Party.  Since Charlie was sick, I stayed home with him and Erich took Chaney to the party.  They had a great time!

The party was at the Embassy at the Ambassador's
residence (seen in the background).

There were a lot of games outside for the kids.

Daddy pulled Chaney down the hill on the sled.

Chaney and Boomer

Santa's sleigh pulled by the white boomers.

 

 

 Santa was also at the Embassy Christmas party.  Chaney was reluctant to sit on Santa's lap.  Erich managed to get Chaney to pose beside Santa and himself. The Embassy photographer was the one that took the pictures. So once we get the picture, I'll be sure to share them with you!!

 

Summertime Christmas

It certainly doesn't feel like Christmas here in Australia. I knew it would be different but I didn't expect it to be so hard to make it FEEL like Christmas. I've been going through the motions, but I'm beginning to feel like it's Christmas time.

 

I also had to make some other minor changes...

Before

After

Since I don't sew, I feel pretty darn proud of the work I did to make the long sleeved dress into a short sleeved one! And did I mention that I sewed all the tinsel garland to Chaney's dress.  I've said it before but I'll say it again.  I'm Martha freakin' Stewart. And check out my Oreo Truffle Balls I made for the Embassy cookie contest.

 

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• If you came to Australia and I said we were going to eat "fairy floss" and a "darn" I would be trying to tell you we would be eating cotton candy and a sausage.
• Tonight we ordered pizza from Dominos.  Here is the LARGE pizza we ordered.

  

  Notice the 12 inch purple ruler.

• If I told you to bring your esky to the picnic, I would be trying to tell you to bring your cooler. 
• The bathrooms in our house have no air ducts.  They get cool in the winter and are stuffy in the summer.  Part of our house has a large closet off the laundry room beside the hallway to the garage and the guest bathroom.  There is no air duct in that whole area.  No heat.  No cool.  This seems strange to me.  It gets freezing in the winter!
• Tomorrow is the beginning of the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL! Wow. 
• Chaney walks around the house using her play princess cell phone to call her friends.  Before school on Friday, she had to make a call to her boyfriend.  Yes, I said boyfriend.  She stood at the dining room table for about 3 minutes talking on her phone.  I have no idea what her boyfriend was saying, but she listened attentively and responded with enthusiasm.  She also told him about her day and what she had planned.  He also must have responded appropriately because she seemed thrilled with his answers.  We are in so much trouble...

  

  Being a good listener.

  
  

  

  Telling about her day.