Ray & Marcia in Melbourne!

Hi all.
Sorry about the picture quality - I took it on my mobile phone camera.
My parents arrived right on time Thursday morning, and then it only took them about an hour and a half to get through customs (we're blaming the Rice-a-Roni). My crying (a combination of excitement/happiness/relief/3 months of sadness all mixed into one) was contained to a brief half minute or so, and then they had what I'm sure was a whirlwind of a day, as one's day usually is after traveling for over 24 hours in a row, sitting on a 15+ hour flight, and landing on the other side of the world from where you started. They got checked into their hotel, I introduced them to our apartment, and then we walked down to a local bakery for their first Aussie pie (recall from an earlier blog entry that Andy and I absolutely adore the fact that nearly anything you would like to eat can be found in perfected pie form down here). We all rested a bit at the hotel, they got unpacked, and we browsed travel books, pamphlets, and booklets trying to determine where we shall spent some of our time throughout their stay. So much to see - so little time!
We spent some time back here at the apartment, walked around a bit at the botanical gardens, and went out for a late dinner. I could have chatted the night away, but then I looked over and saw that my dad was literally falling asleep sitting up at the table; and I had the nerve to ask him, "Are you tired?" I'm sure they felt lucky that I had to go back to work today, so that they could actually get some rest!
It definitely seems somewhat unreal that we are in Australia together. I am so happy they are here.

Andy has been in Adelaide for a work conference since Wednesday, and will spend the weekend there exploring. He and our friend Ash are scheduled to do a swim with the dolphins on Saturday morning. I'll be excited to hear all about this from him.

I'm still subbing with that same 4th grade class, and it is going so well. I taught a lesson today on 'Hard Yakka' (Aussie lingo for hard work) which was a pretty funny experience for me. I don't know for sure who has learned more since I've been subbing in this class - me or the students!

Guess that's about all the news from Melbourne. With December just around the corner, Happy December to everyone! Love and missing you all. Cheers!

Love,
Christy

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi everyone - Happy Thanksgiving from Melbourne!
As Andy and I sat down to our own little turkey feast tonight, we discussed various items that we are thankful for:
*That we have such wonderful families and friends, which have helped to make this adventure both possible, yet difficult. Possible through all of the support and assistance; difficult because it is harder than we had predicted to be so far away.
*That Buddy is with people that love him, in a location which we are sure he loves.
*That even when we are feeling 'broke' we are actually far from it in comparison to some.
*That we have had this opportunity to live in another country, thus allowing us to appreciate all of the things the United States offers to its citizens. We discussed how neither of us has ever been particularly patriotic nor unpatriotic, but that living abroad has allowed us the opportunity to view our home country from a very different perspective - certainly a more appreciative perspective.
*That we are both quite healthy (Andy put a vote in for his knee feeling better).
*That our move so far has gone quite well. We reflected back upon the past 3 months and all that has happened and all of the emotions that we have worked through.
*We are thankful for each other and to be here together.

I'm positive that Andy would be thankful if some sort of NFL game miraculously popped up on our TV right now, but there's only so much you can do, right?

We wish all of you a most wonderful Thanksgiving. Don't hesitate to tell those that you love that you love them, and if they are there with you, give them a true hug.

xoxoxo & gobblegobble
Christy

Our trip to French Island, or 'I will put up with 8 million flies to see koalas in the wild'

Hi folks,
Christy and I had another surreal weekend in Australia, this time taking a trip to French Island and camping at a place called Mcleod Eco Farm. French Island is about 60 km SE from Melbourne and we got there by taking the train as far as it would go and hopping on a ferry. The people who run the eco (organic) farm picked us up at the ferry drop-off and took us the last 20km to the farm.

The farm is a former prison, originally used by the state of Victoria to grow and provide food to other prisons. The current owners bought it about 12 years ago, and at that time the builings were so run down that they bought the whole thing for the price of the land only. After 2 years of repairs they opened up the place for guests, which can stay in the guest house or the prison cells that have been renovated (as they pictures show, many have not been, and these are probably the ones that are the most haunted :)

The folks that run the place were super friendly and let us utilize their kitchen and living room area although we were only camping out front. This was more than appreciated as the mosquitos and flies were both quite intense (understatement, anyone?). The main farmer had an interesting view of Americans - he basically said, "Who else do you want running a bunch of the world - the Germans? the Japenese? All things considered, I think the US is not doing a bad job at it." I had never thought of things quite like that, but I guess different perspectives are par for the course when you move 10,000 miles away :)

Here is my attempt at using the new slideshow funtionality.


If you want to see descriptions for the French Island pics and other great shots (if I do say so myself) from our trip to wine country and my 'work' trip (if you can call it that) to the tropical paradise of Townsville, click here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8437412@N03/

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
--Andy and Christy

Flat Stanley in Melbourne!

Flat Stanley riding a tram on Chapel Street.

Flat Stanley is so cool - Chapel Street is super trendy!

Flat Stanley visits Luna Park in St. Kilda.

Again, Flat Stanley is hip to the popular St. Kilda scene.

Flat Stanley nearly takes a dip in Port Phillip Bay.

Flat Stanley checks out the Victoria guidebook while taking a break

on the steps at Federation Square.

Flat Stanley shows off the Yarra River with the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the background.

I almost forgot that I promised a few photos of Flat Stanley visiting Melbourne. Megan, I think we had nearly as much fun with Flat Stanley as you and Brendan did dressing little Riley up for Halloween and taking photos! The main difference, obviously, is that your child is real. My visitor could be folded up and fit into my address book quite nicely.

Cheers!

My Good Fortune Treasure Chest

Greetings from Australia! It seems like I haven't written in a while, so I've a bit of catching up to do. I warn you - lots of random thoughts to follow.

My application with the girls school 'didn't go my way' which was disappointing, but I did begin a long-term substitute teaching position in a 4th grade classroom last Thursday, so I've been keeping quite busy with my 1-hour each way commute and trying to keep this classroom running. It has been a wonderful experience so far - the staff at the school have been beautiful with welcoming me and helping me get settled, and the kids are fantastic. It is so interesting for me to experience teaching in another country - interesting/challenging/scary/fun all mixed together. I feel very lucky to be at this school right now.
The kids are really funny in responding to me and my American way of talking. The younger kiddos kind of just look at me weird and then are quick to warm up - I had one boy yesterday straight up say to me, "You talk weird." The older kiddos just want me to keep talking and saying things. They also always ask me if I know any movie stars. One girl asked me the other day if I had met P-Diddy. I think she was genuinely disappointed when I told her no, I had not met P-Diddy in person.

The countdown for Ray & Marcia's arrival has begun - 2 weeks to go! I've got them out purchasing much-needed American things to stash in their suitcases; items such as Beef Flavored Rice-a-Roni and a 20-pack of Irish Spring Bar Soap. You know, the necessities.

Andy and I hosted our little apartment-warming party last Friday evening by serving way too much wine and cheese. We had a random mix of people: a few of Andy's co-workers, one of our neighbors, and Meghan from Seattle. Andy met Meghan last Wednesday night at ultimate frisbee - she was in town for a week for work, and I think she must be an ultimate frisbee addict to be out playing on the night she arrived in town, but anyway they 'made friends' and it was fun to have her join our evening. I had a blast talking with someone so familiar with my home, and when she whipped out her REI credit card, I about had a good cry right there at the dinner table. Amazing how those little things can affect me. Andy and I then came home and decided that we had better drink some more of all of that red wine we had left from the party. Since we've arrived in Australia, Andy and I have had more than 1 night where we just hang around our place, and end up watching the pictures that are on our computer screen saver flash along. Between the red wine and all of the pictures from home, I got a good cry out of my system, a few tears on Andy's shoulder, and then managed to get myself off to bed.

On Saturday night we saw Eddie Bo at a local venue. Mr. Bo is an old-timer New Orleans soul/funk master - the show was packed and impressive.


I can't quite believe that Thanksgiving is next week! I don't have that Thanksgiving excitement feeling going on at all. Of course, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia, so neither of us will have any days off work next week, we have no plans for attempting a turkey in our oven, and the days keep getting longer and the weather warmer, so I think it is normal that it just doesn't feel like Thanksgiving. Andy and I have been discussing how amazing it is that we spent Thanksgiving last year in Brazil and this one will be in Australia. I would never have dreamed at this time last year that I would be living in Australia now.

Andy and I are beginning to inch dangerously close to using some local Aussie lingo - I actually said, "I reckon..." last week, and then this week I asked some students at school how they were 'going' with their assignment. I think Andy has already given in to "No worries." I've also succumbed to spelling things at school the appropriate Aussie way, for example organisation and colour. Weird, weird, weird.

Well, that's about it for now I think. I'm going to close with a little bit of writing that I did on Monday morning on my way to work. The students in my 4th grade classroom are in the midst of a Pirate-themed Integrated Studies Unit right now, so Monday was Pirate Day. For a writing activity, I gave them the following writing prompt: If you found a treasure chest, what would be inside and what would you do with it? The following is what I wrote as a model for them:

My Good Forture Treasure Chest

by

Mrs. Sweany

If I found a treasure chest today, and opened it up, my dog, Buddy, my friends, and my family would all jump out! We would hug and laugh and probably cry a little bit in our excitement of being all together in Australia. We would all go to Healesville Sanctuary to feed the kangaroos and to see all of the other amazing animals that live there. Then we would go to the beach and have dinner all together as we watched the sunset and celebrated our good fortune at my finding just the right treasure chest.

I love and miss you all. My heart and my thoughts are with all of you much of the time.

xoxoxoxo

Christy

More

More

Russell Plunkett

There is more to life - Than just a chance to live.

There is more to love - Than just a chance to give.

There is more to work - than just a chance to earn.

There is more to life - and life's your chance to learn.

From birth to death there is a need to grow.

To learn each day - something we did not know.

To think each night - when all the lights go low

What did I do - where did I go - what did I sow.

Seed must be sown for a harves to reap

Life's fields need tending - like a shepherd tends his sheep.

a careless day - a lesser time to know.

The fruits of life need more than chance to grow.

There is more to light - Than just the break of day.

Light is life - it should not waste away.

Sight - a gift - that in this light we see

The fruits of life - To be picked by you- by me.

Waste not the time that is your chance to taste

The joys of life the careless seem to waste.

Short lived - our turn to live this life at hand.

Think deep and make the world

Your Promised Land.

__________________________________

Hi everybody. I found the poem above yesterday at a thrift store. A little bit cheesy, but I appreciated the main idea overall, especially the final line.

Andy and I have been watching episodes from the TV series Long Way Round with Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman. It is the documentary of their motorbike adventure around the world, from London to New York via Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, the USA, and Canada. It is some of the best TV-watching I've done in a long time. Not since watching Little Miss Sunshine have I been so impressed with movie/TV versions of entertainment. I recommend it to everyone I know. Thanks to our friend Tim in Portland for the recommendation of this series some time back.

Andy and I are going to stick around the apartment quite a bit this weekend. We're hosting an Apartment-Warming Party next Friday night, so we've got a few things to finish unpacking and some arranging to do. Plus, my friend Liam has sent Flat Stanley to Melbourne to visit us, so we're going to take him around to see some of the city's best sights. For those of you wondering, "Who the heck is Flat Stanley?" - Flat Stanley is a 2-dimensional character in a young reader book series. Liam's class back in Portland is studying geography by sending Flat Stanley to people they know all around the world, and requesting that information and pictures about Flat Stanley's destination be sent back to the class to learn from. I am super excited that Liam chose to send Flat Stanley to visit us! I'll be sure to post at least one picture of Flat Stanley in Melbourne on this blog soon.

Have a great weekend everybody! Cheers!

Love, Christy