Hi all.
I read in the paper today that the taxi-drivers had removed their shirts to symbolize their vulnerability. So that mystery is now solved.
In response to a deal that was just too good to pass up, Andy and I purchased flights from Melbourne to Christchurch, NZ for both of us round-trip for $467. So we will be back in New Zealand October 15 - 22. I already know for sure that we'll be making a trip to Queenstown for bungee-jumping (Andy will be doing the jumping, not me!). Anyone interested in joining us in NZ for a week, please don't hesitate!
Cheers!
Christy
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
April Happenings
Hi all! Greetings from Australia! It seems like I haven't written in a while - so much so that I finally started a short list of things I wanted to remember to mention, which definitely signals a need to update the blog. I spent about 3 hours on the phone today with friends Mark & Bhavna, and then Brendan, so I feel pretty good and caught up with what's been going on in Portland. Fantastic to chat with all of you today.
Overall, things here are going well. We've had a few pretty chill weeks with not a whole lot to report. I've been working both at the shop and subbing. Andy's been working. We've definitely entered autumn, as we finally started turning the heater on in our apartment on a fairly regular basis, and today I've had it on all day while I've been home. I've had 2 different strains of a cold and a solid, 4-day bout of the flu (affectionately referred to as "gastro" down here), so I guess that's a pretty good indication of a seasonal change as well. We saw the band Flogging Molly one night, attended a show that was part of the Melbourne International Comedy Fest, ate the best lasagna I've ever had at our neighbor's (it had bacon in it!), explored a new region on the outskirts of Melbourne called Williamstown, I attended the dawn service for ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day at the Shrine of Remembrance, and we've rolled our first games of Aussie 10-pin bowling. When I put all of that down in writing, a pretty full month, but pretty chill. Now, on to my list-
At the top: Hooray to my brother, Steve, his wife, Michelle, and my 10-year old niece, Cami, for they are the next loved ones to have purchased flights to come visit us in Australia!!! They will be arriving in Melbourne on December 28 and will be here for about 2 weeks, before spending 4 days on their own in New Zealand and then heading back to the states. We will all be celebrating the arrival of 2009 in grand style in Sydney, a New Year's Eve celebration & fireworks display that I have always longed to see and be a part of. So, you know where we'll be if you want to join us.
My nephew, Alec, will not be coming with his family to Australia, but will be spending the time with my parents. I've heard rumors that they will be seeking out some sort of trip to find a pirate ship somewhere in the US to make up for his missing out on this big trip to Australia. Hmmm...
Last week I subbed for 2 days in a 3rd grade classroom. The school was celebrating their 30th birthday, so it was a pretty hectic couple of days. I am still trying very hard to believe that their regular teacher was actually sick and unhappy to miss out on the chaos that any primary school "All School Celebration" brings along with it. I did have the rare opportunity, however, of seeing the school's band, made up of 5th and 6th graders, sing a live version of Sweet Child of Mine, which was surprising, interesting, and actually quite good. Weird experiences just seem to keep happening down here.
Like another topic on my list - the fact that a Nicholas Cage movie was being filmed about 10 houses down from us on our street this past Monday! We're anxious to see the film Knowing sometime in the future and spot our neighborhood.
And today the taxi drivers of Melbourne protested the lack of security provided them by shutting down one of the main intersections of downtown, and then taking their shirts off! We are still trying to figure that one out, as was our regular morning talkshow host.
Possibly the quirkiest thing about Australia that I've witnessed recently, and an amusing indication of the time-warp into which we have immersed ourselves, was on the news last week - a special report called Supermarkets of the Future. The report went into detail about the new, do-it-yourself checkout lanes that were being introduced in select "Supermarkets of the Future" at various locations around Australia. I had a good laugh to myself about this. Here I was, somewhat anxiously waiting to see just how cool an Aussie Supermarket of the Future might be, and all I got was DIY checkout lanes. Oh, well. Looking back, those were pretty cool when introduced in the US (about 10 years ago). You just gotta love Australia.
I've included a few recent photos. Happy Spring!
Love, Christy
from Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan:
...the sense that all life, properly understood, is a savage dream in which one is shuffled about, taken by the tides & winds & the knowledge - constantly in danger of being lost - that one is only ever an awestruck witness to everyday wonder.
Overall, things here are going well. We've had a few pretty chill weeks with not a whole lot to report. I've been working both at the shop and subbing. Andy's been working. We've definitely entered autumn, as we finally started turning the heater on in our apartment on a fairly regular basis, and today I've had it on all day while I've been home. I've had 2 different strains of a cold and a solid, 4-day bout of the flu (affectionately referred to as "gastro" down here), so I guess that's a pretty good indication of a seasonal change as well. We saw the band Flogging Molly one night, attended a show that was part of the Melbourne International Comedy Fest, ate the best lasagna I've ever had at our neighbor's (it had bacon in it!), explored a new region on the outskirts of Melbourne called Williamstown, I attended the dawn service for ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day at the Shrine of Remembrance, and we've rolled our first games of Aussie 10-pin bowling. When I put all of that down in writing, a pretty full month, but pretty chill. Now, on to my list-
At the top: Hooray to my brother, Steve, his wife, Michelle, and my 10-year old niece, Cami, for they are the next loved ones to have purchased flights to come visit us in Australia!!! They will be arriving in Melbourne on December 28 and will be here for about 2 weeks, before spending 4 days on their own in New Zealand and then heading back to the states. We will all be celebrating the arrival of 2009 in grand style in Sydney, a New Year's Eve celebration & fireworks display that I have always longed to see and be a part of. So, you know where we'll be if you want to join us.
My nephew, Alec, will not be coming with his family to Australia, but will be spending the time with my parents. I've heard rumors that they will be seeking out some sort of trip to find a pirate ship somewhere in the US to make up for his missing out on this big trip to Australia. Hmmm...
Last week I subbed for 2 days in a 3rd grade classroom. The school was celebrating their 30th birthday, so it was a pretty hectic couple of days. I am still trying very hard to believe that their regular teacher was actually sick and unhappy to miss out on the chaos that any primary school "All School Celebration" brings along with it. I did have the rare opportunity, however, of seeing the school's band, made up of 5th and 6th graders, sing a live version of Sweet Child of Mine, which was surprising, interesting, and actually quite good. Weird experiences just seem to keep happening down here.
Like another topic on my list - the fact that a Nicholas Cage movie was being filmed about 10 houses down from us on our street this past Monday! We're anxious to see the film Knowing sometime in the future and spot our neighborhood.
And today the taxi drivers of Melbourne protested the lack of security provided them by shutting down one of the main intersections of downtown, and then taking their shirts off! We are still trying to figure that one out, as was our regular morning talkshow host.
Possibly the quirkiest thing about Australia that I've witnessed recently, and an amusing indication of the time-warp into which we have immersed ourselves, was on the news last week - a special report called Supermarkets of the Future. The report went into detail about the new, do-it-yourself checkout lanes that were being introduced in select "Supermarkets of the Future" at various locations around Australia. I had a good laugh to myself about this. Here I was, somewhat anxiously waiting to see just how cool an Aussie Supermarket of the Future might be, and all I got was DIY checkout lanes. Oh, well. Looking back, those were pretty cool when introduced in the US (about 10 years ago). You just gotta love Australia.
I've included a few recent photos. Happy Spring!
Love, Christy
from Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan:
...the sense that all life, properly understood, is a savage dream in which one is shuffled about, taken by the tides & winds & the knowledge - constantly in danger of being lost - that one is only ever an awestruck witness to everyday wonder.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Trip to Ballina & Byron Bay for AusWeb
Hi boys and girls,
I've already e-mailed a few people differing versions of text below, but we were out late at the Flogging Molly show last night so I'm lazy (plus the sun is shining so I need to get away from this PC soon).
Well, I can now check off 'become an international speaker' on my list of things do to. We just got back from Ballina/Byron Bay, which is about a 2.5 hr flight north of Melbourne. I presented a paper at a mostly techno type conference (i'm kind of the 'normal' guy that represents real people at these type of things). All in all it was a good time - met some really fun people from Melbourne that I'm certain we will be hangin out with more in the future. However, the trip was very bizarre for several reasons:
1) It poured rained for 4 days straight so poor Christy didn't really get much beach time
2) The first night we were there I hung out with fellow conference attendees drinking. One of these folks, a crazy drunkard that was at the conference with his girlfriend, came pounding on our door at 1:15am. I tried to ignore the first 18 times he knocked, but when the knocking started again 5 min. later and I angrily got up to see what the hell he wanted, I opened the door and no one was there
3) A 16 year old boy died from a shark attack at the beach about a 1/4 mile from where we were staying. We heard the ambulance go by the resort the morning it happened
4) We went to the this place called an RSL - can't remember the acronym, but kind of similar to a VFW. The one we went to was much fancier than most - actually it was very similar to Vegas - a huge cavern of a place with cheap grub, cheap drinks and gambling. At one point some random dude pulled up a chair, made some smart ass comment about being Russian after I told him I was American, then he took of his shoes, propped his feet up on one of our buddy's chairs and passed out.
5) While at the conference we received a rather alarming e-mail from our neighbor in Portland stating that it appeared that our tenant had moved out. To make a long story short, this was indeed true, and our property management company is working on finding new renters.
Your Aussie lingo lesson for today - grunter: pig
ex: 'This kid is as fat as a grunter - git im orf the junk tucker'
My recommendation for your daily dose of rock - this guitar will melt your face if you're not careful....
Bye for now,
Sweany
Friday, March 28, 2008
Earth Hour 2008
Hi all. Melbourne is honoring Earth Hour tomorrow night. I'm curious what the information level in the US is on this movement, but also wanted to bring it to everyone's attention.
Love,
Christy
I just signed up to the new Earth Hour website for 2008 and I thought you might like to take a look and possibly sign up too. Earth Hour is on 29 March 2008 at 8pm, and it looks like it's going to be really big. So far, as well as Sydney, there'll also be Chicago, Tel Aviv, Manila, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Brisbane and Toronto all turning off their lights for an hour in the name of fighting global warming. And I'm sure there'll be more cities by March. Sign up for Earth Hour with me by visiting http://www.earthhour.org/sign-up and join the movement.
Love,
Christy
I just signed up to the new Earth Hour website for 2008 and I thought you might like to take a look and possibly sign up too. Earth Hour is on 29 March 2008 at 8pm, and it looks like it's going to be really big. So far, as well as Sydney, there'll also be Chicago, Tel Aviv, Manila, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Brisbane and Toronto all turning off their lights for an hour in the name of fighting global warming. And I'm sure there'll be more cities by March. Sign up for Earth Hour with me by visiting http://www.earthhour.org/sign-up and join the movement.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Have you ever had a Hot Cross Bun?
I wanted to mention that we had our first Hot Cross Buns experience down here this Easter season. I don't recall ever really seeing a hot cross bun in the US before, but they are big down here, in Melbourne at least. So I've recently had that little ditty stuck in my head for about a week, but all I knew of it was, "Hot cross buns, hot cross buns; one a penny, two a penny; hot cross buns." Here's the original and alternative versions according to Wikipedia:
(The "ha'" is pronounced "hay", and refers to a half penny coin no longer in currency.)
Hot cross buns,
Hot cross buns,
one ha' penny,
two ha' penny,
hot cross buns.
If you have no daughters,
give them to your sons,
one ha' penny,
two ha' penny,
Hot Cross Buns
Alternative lyrics are:
Hot cross buns,
One a penny buns,
One a penny,
Two a penny,
Hot cross buns.
Fresh, sweet buns,
Come and buy my buns,
One a penny,
Two a penny,
Fresh, sweet buns.
Nice, light buns,
Buy my currant buns,
Come and try them,
Then you'll buy them,
Nice, light buns.
Hot, sweet buns,
Good for everyone,
All your daughters,
All your sons,
All love buns.
Hot cross buns,
Hot cross buns,
Everybody loves hot cross buns.
I much prefer the alternative lyrics - way more catchy and interesting, and I dare say suggestive? he he
Since it was our first hot cross buns experience, we splurged and bought 2 high-end bakery buns, rather than the cheapie Safeway bag-o-8 buns. I thought they were delicious, but Andy wasn't a big fan since they were chock-full of raisins.
Aren't you glad you visited the blog today?
Cheers!
Love, Christy
Monday, March 24, 2008
recent Buddy pictures from Zach
A few recent photos of Buddy that we received from Zach. Don't you think Mirror Pond should consider hiring Buddy to promote their beverage? I certainly do.
Cheers!
Christy
Cheers!
Christy
March 2008 Happenings
Hello from Aussie-land. Hope this finds you all very well and happy.
A big Hip-Hip-Hooray to my sister and her family for FINALLY getting moved into their new home in Colorado. For those of you that don't know, she and her family have been living in various locations since last June as they waited on a new home being built. We saw our first glimpse of it today via a webcam tour. Cheers to that!
Things here are good. Highlights since our last thorough update:
*Jason Nielsen (a dear friend of ours) is back living in Australia! He is serving as the chef at The Sovereign Resort in Cooktown, Queensland (far NE corner of the country). It feels good to know that there is a friend so close, even though it would take us days to drive there or hours to fly there. There is just something in knowing that a good friend is on the same continent, I guess. We're already looking forward to making our way up to this croc-infested section of Australia sometime in the next few months, hopefully.
*I went to an Aussie dentist named Bruno.
*We attended our first Aussie long-weekend music/camp festival, Golden Plains, at Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre, which is about 2 hours outside of Melbourne. We saw some rock that made my head hurt, an amazing sunset, a music venue where couches and all of your own drinks (including full kegs!) are allowed anywhere, Ween (superb), Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings (excellent), and even a band on the second night that, when asking the crowd whether they should continue to play or go home, I shouted out "GO HOME!" and a gentleman walking past us stopped and emphatically agreed with me. We met some fun and interesting folks and heard a ton of good, new music.
*We bought a new BBQ on our way home that weekend, taking advantage of having a rental car to get one to our apartment.
*I've started receiving acupuncture treatments in an ongoing effort to breathe through my nose.
*I attended an outdoor performance of Romeo & Juliet at the Botanical Gardens with our friend, Rosemary, and her daughter, Amy.
*We spent Sunday the 16th at the Grand Prix races and attending the KISS concert that night! It was just over 100 degrees in Melbourne that day, and our cheapie tickets didn't allow for air-conditioned access to any of the exclusive grandstand seats (damn!), so we mostly wandered arounds the grounds as slowly as possible, stopping multiple times near the sprinklers and drinking plenty of VB and water. None the less, it was pretty cool to see the cars racing and simply moving that quickly in person, especially around a park loop that is about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. The KISS concert was part of the big finale for the races, and what a finale! I don't know how else to say it - it simply rocked! It was also one of those concerts in my mind that was so bad, it was good. Again, we met some fun and interesting folks. I wore my brother's KISS shirt, which he sent me all the way from Omaha, Nebraska - thanks, Steve! That rocked, too.
*We celebrated a rather lackluster and hot (again, 100 degrees) St. Patty's Day by grilling a mini meat-fest for ourselves, drinking a couple of beers, and listening to Dropkick Murphy's real loud. Sadly, there were no leprechaun sightings to be had in Melbourne this year. Maybe next year.
*We've enjoyed our long Easter weekend. We spent Friday night trying out a little Chinese Dumpling House and taking in some super-chill jazz at a tiny jazz club downtown. We hosted a BBQ with our downstairs neighbors on Saturday. We webcam'ed it up with a bunch of family and then went to the Melbourne Museum today. We've watched about 7 episodes of Sopranos. We've had some serious discussions about how long we may live here (more on that below). Currently, I'm writing this and Andy is off at an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament.
*We're headed to another new part of this country April 6-10. Andy will be presenting a paper at a conference in Ballina, so we will both be spending 4 days in the Ballina/Byron Bay area, which is along the east coast in northern New South Wales. We've heard great reports about the Byron Bay area, so are looking forward to visiting.
*I continue to work and love my job down the street 3 days a week. Andy continues to be satisfied with his position with Monash Uni.
On the topic of moving back to Portland: we are pretty seriously considering moving back around May of 2009, so if anyone is still considering coming here for a visit, you've got about a year. Our initial grandiose ideas about extensive travels prior to leaving this region of the world are beginning to be clouded by the realities of moving, finances, and (ok-let me stop kidding myself) my ongoing feelings of, "I kinda just want to go home sometimes." There, I wrote it. Yes, we're ok. No, I'm not depressed. Yes, I'm enjoying this experience and it will be worth it; it already is and has been worth it. But it feels weird to have our lives on a set timeline in a foreign country, after really being at home in Portland and our lives there. I can't help but feel that no matter how worth it this move was/is, I am missing out on many of the people and times that I truly love. I'm finding that I have to mentally encourage myself to stay focused on the positive aspects of being here, much more than I thought I would. Trust me, I could go on & on with this topic, but the main point is that if you think you might be coming this way while we are living here, best to make it within the next 12 months or so.
Enjoy the small slideshow and the video clips, and be well! Love and miss you all.
Cheers!
Christy
Grand Prix Action
You're Beautiful
This Song Unites The World
A big Hip-Hip-Hooray to my sister and her family for FINALLY getting moved into their new home in Colorado. For those of you that don't know, she and her family have been living in various locations since last June as they waited on a new home being built. We saw our first glimpse of it today via a webcam tour. Cheers to that!
Things here are good. Highlights since our last thorough update:
*Jason Nielsen (a dear friend of ours) is back living in Australia! He is serving as the chef at The Sovereign Resort in Cooktown, Queensland (far NE corner of the country). It feels good to know that there is a friend so close, even though it would take us days to drive there or hours to fly there. There is just something in knowing that a good friend is on the same continent, I guess. We're already looking forward to making our way up to this croc-infested section of Australia sometime in the next few months, hopefully.
*I went to an Aussie dentist named Bruno.
*We attended our first Aussie long-weekend music/camp festival, Golden Plains, at Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre, which is about 2 hours outside of Melbourne. We saw some rock that made my head hurt, an amazing sunset, a music venue where couches and all of your own drinks (including full kegs!) are allowed anywhere, Ween (superb), Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings (excellent), and even a band on the second night that, when asking the crowd whether they should continue to play or go home, I shouted out "GO HOME!" and a gentleman walking past us stopped and emphatically agreed with me. We met some fun and interesting folks and heard a ton of good, new music.
*We bought a new BBQ on our way home that weekend, taking advantage of having a rental car to get one to our apartment.
*I've started receiving acupuncture treatments in an ongoing effort to breathe through my nose.
*I attended an outdoor performance of Romeo & Juliet at the Botanical Gardens with our friend, Rosemary, and her daughter, Amy.
*We spent Sunday the 16th at the Grand Prix races and attending the KISS concert that night! It was just over 100 degrees in Melbourne that day, and our cheapie tickets didn't allow for air-conditioned access to any of the exclusive grandstand seats (damn!), so we mostly wandered arounds the grounds as slowly as possible, stopping multiple times near the sprinklers and drinking plenty of VB and water. None the less, it was pretty cool to see the cars racing and simply moving that quickly in person, especially around a park loop that is about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. The KISS concert was part of the big finale for the races, and what a finale! I don't know how else to say it - it simply rocked! It was also one of those concerts in my mind that was so bad, it was good. Again, we met some fun and interesting folks. I wore my brother's KISS shirt, which he sent me all the way from Omaha, Nebraska - thanks, Steve! That rocked, too.
*We celebrated a rather lackluster and hot (again, 100 degrees) St. Patty's Day by grilling a mini meat-fest for ourselves, drinking a couple of beers, and listening to Dropkick Murphy's real loud. Sadly, there were no leprechaun sightings to be had in Melbourne this year. Maybe next year.
*We've enjoyed our long Easter weekend. We spent Friday night trying out a little Chinese Dumpling House and taking in some super-chill jazz at a tiny jazz club downtown. We hosted a BBQ with our downstairs neighbors on Saturday. We webcam'ed it up with a bunch of family and then went to the Melbourne Museum today. We've watched about 7 episodes of Sopranos. We've had some serious discussions about how long we may live here (more on that below). Currently, I'm writing this and Andy is off at an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament.
*We're headed to another new part of this country April 6-10. Andy will be presenting a paper at a conference in Ballina, so we will both be spending 4 days in the Ballina/Byron Bay area, which is along the east coast in northern New South Wales. We've heard great reports about the Byron Bay area, so are looking forward to visiting.
*I continue to work and love my job down the street 3 days a week. Andy continues to be satisfied with his position with Monash Uni.
On the topic of moving back to Portland: we are pretty seriously considering moving back around May of 2009, so if anyone is still considering coming here for a visit, you've got about a year. Our initial grandiose ideas about extensive travels prior to leaving this region of the world are beginning to be clouded by the realities of moving, finances, and (ok-let me stop kidding myself) my ongoing feelings of, "I kinda just want to go home sometimes." There, I wrote it. Yes, we're ok. No, I'm not depressed. Yes, I'm enjoying this experience and it will be worth it; it already is and has been worth it. But it feels weird to have our lives on a set timeline in a foreign country, after really being at home in Portland and our lives there. I can't help but feel that no matter how worth it this move was/is, I am missing out on many of the people and times that I truly love. I'm finding that I have to mentally encourage myself to stay focused on the positive aspects of being here, much more than I thought I would. Trust me, I could go on & on with this topic, but the main point is that if you think you might be coming this way while we are living here, best to make it within the next 12 months or so.
Enjoy the small slideshow and the video clips, and be well! Love and miss you all.
Cheers!
Christy
Grand Prix Action
You're Beautiful
This Song Unites The World
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