Long Weekends

Dear USA,

Happy MLK Day!

Love,
Tuesday

I was talking to the other American here at work (the one from Grosse Pointe) today when another attorney informed him that yesterday/today was "some sort of holiday in the US". He said, "Really?" and I chimed in with, "Martin Luther King day, of course!" Oh, how quickly they forget :) It's a little weird not just because it was Tuesday here, but also because this coming weekend is the holiday here, Australia Day (observed Jan. 26 or next working day - in this case Monday). When I was talking to my mom this weekend I mentioned that to her and she asked me if people wish each other a "Happy Australia Day". Alex happened to be passing through the room so I asked him and he laughed at me! In fact, I believe he said something along the lines of, "You're usually too drunk to wish anyone anything." This seems to be the general pattern of an Australian holiday: head to the beach/camping ground, drink too much, and fire up the barbie!

Sunday was also a phenomenon called Big Day Out. There is some controversy among the housemates and co. about whether this used to be held on Australia Day weekend or not, but in any case now it is the weekend before. It is basically a coordinated effort in the big cities across the country to get as many people as sunburned, dehydrated, deafened and happy as possible in one big day of outdoor musical acts. I didn't go (see the rainforest entry :)) but Alex and Ray went and had a great time. Alex was a volunteer, which meant that he wandered around spraying people with water. I'm not sure how effective that was but he seemed happy.

Update: Apparently Big Day Out is not all on one day, but is like a big tour of bands, so each weekend they hit different cities.

'Strayan

At work's happy hour on Friday I got to meet the lovely family of the partner here who got me the job. His wife is very nice and we spent a long time talking. She asked me how my Australian ('Strayan') is coming, and I told her pretty good! In light of that, some anecdotes:

At book group on Thursday, in addition to mispronouncing the bookstore name, I also was trying to spell Carlos Ruiz Zafon's second name to Meg. She kept spelling it "Louis," partly because she couldn't hear me very well and partly, it turned out when another girl "translated" for us, because I kept saying the last letter as "zee" instead of "zed." When they say "zee," I can suddenly hear how it sounds funny - mostly because they giggle as they say it!

Vocabulary lesson

"Chase up" (as opposed to chase down - must be the whole south-of-the-equator thing - also means "follow up on") Ex. I'd like you to chase up an answer to this question.

"Bogan" - white trash. Also Bevin (though that has more of a car-obsession element, I'm told) - this also made the recent election of Kevin Rudd intensely amusing to some, due to the rhyming factor.

Unrelatedly, I have also been asked my opinion on all the election hoopla, often by people I barely know just because they know I'm American, and have given more crash courses in US election procedure than I care to count. Dan the Hungarian asked me why we were having an election now and one in November; that was a fun one. I have found it confuses people to no end that, even if I had a ballot, it wouldn't matter if I voted because of the Democratic response to Michigan's primary. It is a very interesting time to be here - having been here for the Australian election and getting a crash couse in their system, and now having the tables turned.

The house is in a bit of an uproar right now - we roasted Bunya nuts (Alex brought home an entire "cone" and it was quite a project - I took some photos which will be up as soon as my battery charges...) and people kept dropping in: Mark, Chris (who lives here and from whom Dan is subletting, so we're not quite sure how that'll shake out), Joe and his cousin, Ray's girlfriend Greta, and we're all making plans for our camping trip over 'Straya Day (Jan 26). I'm going to go rejoin the "bogan/bevin" discussion I sparked and eat some more Bunya nuts!

And We're Back!

Trivia Answer

I asked this question because I had a bet going with the housemates about how many people thought the national anthem was "Waltzing Matilda," which the Aussies thought was just preposterous. M wins the prize, the correct answer is "Advance Australia Fair," which makes the restaurant sign below very clever (Tukka is "tucker," the Aussie word for food, spoken with an Aussie accent).

However, I am liking this trivia idea, so here is another one: What region of Australia does the didgeridoo come from?

Mudford

The folk festival was excellent. I never thought I would have so much fun camping. For a week. In the rain. But it was great! It would have been even better if I had actually moved my camp up to where everyone I knew was camping, but oh well. I got a lot of exercise going between the two hills (where the camps were) that were on opposite sides of the "festival village". It really was amazing how this little town sprang up in the middle of nowhere, just for a week. With all the rain, everything was quite muddy. All of the venues were tents and dirt (mud, lake) floors. Eventually you just had to stop caring. I took a few photos and some videos, which I will try to get online soon. I had to restrain myself when it came to buying CDs because they are crazy expensive here, but I did get three that I am very excited about :)

Fantastic Little People

In order to attend for free, I worked in the Operations Center which is the hub of the festival. Anything the venues (stages where artists were performing or bars connected to the stages) needed, they contacted us. Half the time it was for more gravel to fill in their swamps, or other weather-related incidents (like towing out of the mud). We also handled all emergency calls, keeping the caller on the line while dialing "Triple 0" (911) and relaying information between the two. It was exciting to say the least. One of the supervisors described her five-year-old twins as "such fantastic little people" one night as we were trying to fill the rare void left by silent phones. It struck me as such a funny and interesting way to describe one's children that it's still ringing in my head. All the supervisors were great, and my team had a good time. It consisted of Peter who handled the foot traffic and two-way radio requests, and then Georgie and me on the phones in back. Georgie is hilarious - her kids are about my age and she looks like this really sweet lady and then she breaks in with something sassy that someone my age might say. She constantly kept me on my toes and was a lot of fun to work with.

Rainraingoa Way
One of the many clever street names created for the festival - and the most appropriate. The camping areas were better organized than they probably seemed to most campers, but there were little dirt roads with street signs. It was especially crucial for emergencies, to get a tow truck or ambulance to exactly the right spot. At the office we had an ellidex of all the street names and some of them are quite clever. My favorites included Longandwinding Road, Helovesmeinhisblokey Way, Ilovea Parade, etc.

The After-Party

Some friends from the festival who were flying back to Sydney from Brisbane were going to go camping for one more night at a different site, but by the end they decided they had had enough with the camping in the rain. Before they could book a hostel, I checked with my housemates and invited them to stay at our house. I got home on New Year's Day at about 11:30pm, slept for ten hours like a rock in my big-soft-comfy-warm-dry bed, and then woke up to get laundry going and greet the guests. So that day we had a party - those three friends, then Alex's brother, brother's girlfriend and their friend. We got fish and chips and beer and took hot showers and sat around talking and laughing. It was a zoo and so much fun. While I was at work yesterday, the guests all trickled off and I came home to a quiet house and had a lovely relaxed evening.

The Coldest Summer Ever

It is still raining here in Brissie. It apparently rained here the entire time I was gone, and hasn't stopped yet. It is also about 50 degrees which feels COLD. Last night I slept in my winter pajama pants, quilt on the bed, window closed, and was quite cozy. It should be cold and rainy for another week or so, then next weekend sunny. Fingers crossed!

Happy Holidays!

This country is ALL about Christmas. I find people don't really understand when I tell them I don't celebrate Christmas, even less when I explain further that I'm not Christian (like, what does being Christian have to do with celebrating Christmas?). People ask me what I'm doing for Christmas, where in the US they would ask what I'm doing for the holidays - recognizing that people at least have some time off, though rarely the entire week like here (but then, four weeks per year is standard... and that's a whole other can of worms. Go see "Sicko"). There is also no religious diversity - people don't even attempt to pretend like in the US, where store employees are instructed to wish everyone "happy holidays" for fear of a lawsuit or something.

That being said, the housemates and I had a lovely Christmas dinner last night. After a full day of scrubbing the house (which was badly, badly needed - I barely recognize the living room anymore), we had a snack of meat pies (or "poy" if you're Australian, which amuses me - and therefore Alex - to no end) and then set off to the store for supplies. We started cooking around 5:30 and didn't finish until 10:30. We had mulled wine, roast potatoes and pumpkin, various chocolates, Hungarian dessert I didn't catch the name of, and ham (well, the rest of them had ham).

The next week or so I'll be up at the folk festival, so there won't be any posting going on. In the meantime, I leave you with a bit of trivia: What is the Australian national anthem? (And NO cheating by looking it up!)

Oh, and a follow-up to the Hamper entry: turns out "hamper" just means a gift basket, the kind that's all done up in cellophane and tied with a bow.

The Brissie Chrissie Hamper

I went into the city yesterday after working for a couple of hours at Place B, for Place A's Christmas party. When I got to the office, a coworker informed me that I should check out my "hamper." "What the heck is that?" I wondered as I followed her down the hall. Apparently it either means suitcase or is the name for Christmas baskets that the company gives out. The reason it's hard to tell which is that in this case, it was both. I certainly wasn't expecting anything, since I had only worked for them for about six days, but sitting on my desk was, apparently, a hamper. It was a rolling suitcase, covered in cellophane and tied with a big bow. I undid the cellophane as quietly as possible (which is to say, not at all) and opened the suitcase. Keep in mind the suitcase itself would have been gift enough - I have been wanting a rolly one for a while, and this is the perfect size for all the extra junk I have that won't fit in the backpack, plus it won't make my arm fall off carrying it! But anyway, I opened the suitcase and it was filled with goodies - mostly chocolate, much to my delight, but also crackers, a bottle of wine, and some other things. Yay Christmas!

(By the way, Aussies like to abbreviate everything in some way or another... hence the title of the entry: Brissie is Brisbane, Chrissie is Christmas.)

Peanut, peanut butter... (and jelly)

How people think peanut butter is disgusting is beyond me. Leaving aside for a moment that this is a nation of people who eat vegemite like it's going out of style (which is not so much gross as just really really salty) because Dan the Hungarian is grossed out by peanut butter, too. Grossed out - seriously - this is a guy who taste-tests his raw meat (to see if it needs more paprika, no doubt), and suddenly I'm the wacko? Riiiiight. (Though he did donate some celery to me and was so amused by the fact that I went straight to the cupboard and put peanut butter on it that he actually tried it, so I'll give him credit for bravery.)

In other news, my two places of employment have been duking it out for the pleasure of my presence in the new year. Place B was supposed to only have me for December and then give me back to Place A, but I am filling a gap made by a person on vacation and another one who quit and they are slow on the hiring uptake. The agreement they came to in the end was that I would go back to Place B for the rest of the first week of January just to hand things back over to the person who was on vacation, and then I'd go to A for a few weeks, until they run out of things for me to do, then back to B... sounds like a lot of bouncing. We'll see how it goes.

This is all in the midst of making preparations for my big camping trip between "Chrissie" and New Year's. Those of you who know me know I am not big on camping. However, this is a big music festival and a lot of people I know are going, so I think it might be fun. More fun than staying home and being bored out of my mind, anyway. I think I also have found a ride up and back from the festival - if this girl would ever email me back! I'm getting a tad antsy. I'd really rather not have to take enough things for a week of camping with me on a train and then bus.

Ok, I'm off to work at Place B for a couple of hours, then it's Place A's Christmas party and then I don't have to think about either place for a week and a half! Yay :)

Mealtime and Roadway Fun

On Saturday afternoon, Dan and I were drafted into going to a barbecue going-away party for Mia and Alex's friends Jen and John. They had come over a couple of times and are very nice - they are moving to Thailand for at least a year to teach English. I met Jen's parents at the barbecue which explained Jen's wanderlust - her parents are these totally hilarious hippies who have traveled everywhere, mostly by driving and/or camping along the way. They had just gotten back from a six-month trip all around Australia so I picked their brains for a long time about where to go and what to see and do (but not how to get there or where to stay, don't worry!). They also regaled us with tales of their adventures in Europe, which were fascinating. I admire them for their courage.

(Disclaimer: Mom, and anyone else who worries excessively, you should probably not read this paragraph...) After the barbecue, Jordan (another friend of the group) let me behind the wheel of his car. Now, let me explain something. This was a manual car (they were intensely amused by the expression "stick shift," by the way), which I have only ever driven, joltingly, around parking lots, most recently under the direction of my very patient friend Andrew. I know the mechanics of it but had never tried to actually get anywhere, and certainly not on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road. But there weren't many cars around and it was a quick 5-minute drive back to the house. Also, Alex was sitting in the front passenger seat, doing the actual shifting of the gears for me - I was just operating the pedals and steering wheel. All in all, a totally funny and bizarre experience! (By the way - the pedals are NOT reversed. I agreed to drive before I thought of that and had a moment of panic, but it was fine. More complicated was remembering the turn signal was on the other side of the steering wheel...)

On Sunday I wandered into the city and killed some time at the Botanic Garden, which was lovely as usual. On Monday I arrived home after work to find all of the housemates home - including the elusive Ray of Batman fame. Matt and Jordan came over and we ended up all cooking and eating a big meal together, which was very nice. I also got to have a long chat with Ray, mostly about books, which was great. He lent me one which I am reading right now, called The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder, on top of everything else I'm reading (what can I say, I'm a book hog!). To round off the mealtime fun, I made latkes for Mia and Dan tonight to kick off Hanukah!

Day 1, Take 2

So, I had my second first day of work on Thursday. It's gone okay so far. There's a lot to learn and it's hard to keep it all straight, lots of details, but I will get it. They also have a happy hour on Fridays, like the law firm, so I stopped by for a little while. It was nice to chat with and meet some of the other people there, plus I was killing some time before heading into the city for the tree lighting. It was pretty nice, they had some different performers singing Christmas carols and Santa came onstage for a little bit and then they lit the tree. I took some photos of it and of the ride into the city on the ferry, so those will be up asap.

This morning my housemate Dan the Hungarian and I went to the farmer's market, which was a lot of fun. There was a lot of food: fruits and veggies, honey, jams; plants; clothes; random guy cutting people's hair; massage table; musicians; etc. I got two enormous mangos the size of your head; Dan got a bunch of vegetables and swears we're going to make a vegetarian feast tonight. I said, "with meat on the side, right?" because every meal he makes has meat; he just laughed. He made kangaroo the other night and I tried some - he cooked it rare, which is not how I prefer meat anyway, but that aside it wasn't bad. It tasted a lot like beef, actually. I'm sure I'll have it again, so stay tuned!

Some notes:

• Australian women wear a lot of sundresses - or just dresses in general, like to work. It makes them look really dressed up, at least from an American perspective.
• Tobacco products have enormous warning labels that say things like "Smoking causes cancer" and "Smoking while pregnant harms your baby."
• Light switches are on the outside of bathroom doors.
• The drugstore is called the "chemist" (or pharmacy). They sell nothing but drugs - none of this random stuff like notebooks and Hallmark cards and food, like CVS.
  

More soon!

"Do Australians Dream of a White Christmas?"

asked my cousin Erin. Turns out, they do! Most Australians I've talked to so far have a completely romanticized view of snow (spoken like a true jaded Midwestern girl), and have all the idea that it would be so wonderful to have a whole winter of it, or at least Christmas. They know (and sing) the song. They also sing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells. They do have their own Christmas songs, too, but Christmas is so commercialized, and culture in general so American-bent, that they know all of our traditional songs. A very Australian thing to do on Christmas is to go to the beach and have cold foods (like pasta salads) and/or a barbecue. And they've never heard of "It's a Wonderful Life" (which took some explaining as I only saw it myself for the first time two years ago!).

The tree is up in the Brisbane Square; a huge fake furry thing reminiscent of my aunt and uncle's fake tree, only nowhere near as pretty as they make it with the gold bows. I watched them putting the branches in the other day on my way to work. I think there are lights on it, which probably get turned on at night. The lighting happens tomorrow night but I'm not sure if they'll light it regularly since they just turned off the weather lights for wasting too much electricity. (The weather lights were these lights on top of a building downtown that flashed different colors and patters - basically red or white, flashing or steady - to indicate different types of weather. The only useful-sounding one to me was "rain coming" since it's often cloudy for a long time before it actually rains - all the rest seemed like, if you could see outside to see the lights, you could probably tell if it was actually raining or sunny or cloudy, which are basically the only changes in weather... But I digress.) Anyway, thinking about going to the lighting makes me feel like I'll be standing there sipping hot chocolate and wearing mittens, which I know won't be the case!