Brilliant & Classy

Chaney's New Look!

Chaney got her ears pierced! She has wanted them pierced for many, many years and we always would say, "when you are older..."  Well, our big 8 (and a half) year old finally seemed old enough.  She was very brave and only got anxious at the last second.  They had two ladies to pierce the ears so her ears were both done at the same time.  Brilliant.

After getting them pierced, we celebrated her bravery at the McDonald's in the mall food court with chicken nuggets and ice cream.   What a classy little lady!
(As a side note, a mall food court is my least favorite spot in the world. I think hell must be a mall food court.) 

Here in Australia, you go to the chemist (pharmacy) to get your ears pierced.  I learn something new here every day.

Chaney also got glasses!  She only needs them when reading or doing close up work.  (mostly at school)  She is adorable.

Let's talk about money...

Aussies think that all American money "looks alike" and they say they have a hard time telling the bills apart.  (I guess the number in the corner isn't enough.)   They think we are crazy for having dollar bills that look so much alike. (say the people that have monopoly money for their bills...)

Australian money is quite colorful and can look a little like play money until you get used to it.

I have to admit, after looking at the colorful Monopoly money that the Aussies use for the past two and a half years, the American bills all do look the same.

You've sunk my battleship!

Erich and Charlie enjoyed a hot game of Battleship.  

Winner!

Father's Day

Australia celebrates Father's Day on the first Sunday in September.  We had a great day celebrating Erich. 

The kids love their dad!  You will see the selection of gifts (wrapped by them) on the table.  They used an entire roll of wrapping paper and did a fabulous job. 

We got him this awesome dad shirt because he is an AWESOME DAD!  The kids also picked out gifts at their school's Father's Day Stall.  The school has tables of gifts they can pick from ranging in price from $2 to $8.  They picked out a Frisbee, golf tees, and Top Gear Stig Soap-on-a-Rope. 

Serious...

...and silly.

Car Parking in a Car Park

In Australia a parking lot is called a car park. (I still think of cars frolicking on a swing set when I hear it called a car park.)  Most have parking spots that are way too narrow. Pulling into the spot is a challenge and sometimes it's nearly impossible to get out of the car because you are so close to the car next to you. I think this is because most Australians drive very small cars. Some cars are starting to get a bit bigger but the parking spots are not.  One of my favorite things about a lot of the car parks here are the lights above each parking spot indicating if it is taken or if its available.  It makes it easy to tell from afar if there are any open spots.  Whoever invented this was brilliant. Brilliant!

See the red light above my car and the green lights above the empty spots?

The red lights make it super easy to see there are no open spots.

 You have to pay to park almost everywhere.  Around Canberra, it's usually around $2 an hour but can be more. Some cars even come with a slot to keep your parking ticket in so it's easy to access.  Brilliant.

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• In Australia, the person who cuts and styles your hair can not wax your eyebrows.  The nice place I get my hair done doesn't even have someone to do eyebrows. I have to make a separate appointment at a different establishment.  Who has time for that??  (Asks the girl with the bushy brow...)
• They are even making fun of Donald Trump on the Aussie comedy shows.  
• We shop at the Woolworth's grocery store.  The Aussies call it Woollies. 
• They call bell peppers capsicum.  So, you don't spray your attacker with pepper spray.  You use capsicum spray.
• Down here, its not drunk driving.  It's called "drink driving."  
• In America, a car seat for a baby is called an infant carrier.  Here it's called a capsule.
• "Cuppa" means a cup of tea (or coffee.)  "Come for a cuppa" means come for a cup of coffee or tea.    At the end of a long day, I like a cuppa wine with dinner. (That is an incorrect way to use the word.)                                                                            
• It's not a duvet or comforter or bedspread.  It's a doona.  The first time I heard the word, it was used in a way that I had no idea what it meant.  "I got a new doona."  Oh, the things that went through my brain that it could be... 
• On our Australian cable TV, we were just watching the EuroSport channel, listening to American announcers talk about a race in Beijing, China with all Caucasian runners.  What?
• We can't see the Big Dipper in the Australian night sky.  
• Kids don't get "ear tubes" down here.  They get grommets.
• For Sale signs that you put in your front yard when selling your house are about 10 times the size of the ones in the U.S.  It's more like a billboard with interior pictures.  It sure is eye catching and really brilliant if you think about it.  Why are the signs in the U.S. so small? 

• Here, when kids really, really, REALLY have to use the bathroom, they say they are "busting."   "Mom, I'm busting."   Even better is when they say, "I'm busting for the toilet."  It's so classy.

Time Travel

**This is a post a actually wrote a year ago.  I just never posted it.  So travel back in time to July-September 2014...

Thursday, September 4, 2014

My first trip back to the U.S.:

 

I was near giddy when I got to go to Walmart.  Everthing I need in one stop. There is nothing like that here! Allison shared the excitement.

I enjoyed hanging out with my bestie Laura...

...and my other bestie Keely. We laughed (and snorted) a lot! 

4th of July in Winter 

This year we celebrated U.S. Independence Day in the winter!  We got all bundled up and went to the U.S. Embassy for the 4th of July celebration.  It was incredible. They had an area of fun stuff for the kids including face painting, a football throw (an aussie football), a baseball batting cage, etc.  They also had an Navy Band playing recent hits, fireworks, and food. It was nice being around so much American pride after being removed from it so much.  We saw lots of American flags and even got to sing the national anthem.  One benefit of celebrating the 4th of July in the winter is that it is dark by 6:30.  We didn't have to wait until 9:30 for the fireworks.  The fireworks started at 6:30 and the kids were back home in bed at their regular bed time, getting rested for school the next morning.  

The U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Band out of Honolulu played cover songs and the national anthem. My kids kept watching them. One of the guys from the band noticed and came over to talk to them. He gave Charlie his guitar pick and sailor hat. He gave Chaney the insignia pin from his uniform. What a great guy. It really meant a lot.

The U.S. Ambassador to Australia, John Berry.

All decked out in our red, white and blue!

Patriotic kitty.  Meow.

I'm not even sure if an Aussie football is a rugby ball or a Australian Rules Football ball.

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• In Australia, it's not a closet.  It's a wardrobe.
• In Australia, you aren't going on vacation.  You are going on holiday.
• The word "ripper" (pronounced "rippa") means something that is particularly good or excellent.  My husband is a "rippa" mate. Ripper.  (you just pronounced the R sound, didn't you?)
• In Australia, it's not a diaper.  It's a nappie.
• The word "glacier" is pronounced glass-ier.
• Down here, the little cocktail franks are called "little boys."  I'm totally serious. Little. Boys.   Erich said they don't call them that at work for PC reasons. (No kidding.)  But its definitely still used outside of work places!  I nearly spit out my drink when I first heard someone call them little boys. 
• The other day I heard someone talking about a "stubby holder."  I couldn't stop laughing.  I had no idea what it was but it sounded really funny to me. Once I found out what a stubby holder is, my aussie friends asked what we called it in the U.S, I said, "We call it a koozie." I then realized that that sounds just as funny.  (A stubby is another Aussie word for a bottle of beer.)

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.