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