I have discovered one of the most common questions ever asked by someone
who should decide to visit Australia. "So, did you ever see a kangaroo?"
No, I'm afraid I did not! I saw several in the zoo and sanctuary, plus
many crossing signs for them, but I never saw one in the wild, in person.
I may have mentioned that I did see an echidna, however, and in case you
don't know what it is, it looks like a hedgehog with a snout. So. . . .
I'm just saying this so you don't need to be bothered by embarrassing
yourself to be like the billionth person (well maybe the third or fourth)
to ask me the ridiculously common question "have you ever seen a
kangaroo?" because I did not!
Now, I would like to share for your own interest or amusement, some
slightly unusual facts about Australia that perhaps you did or did not
know! So here goes:
1. Taxes in Australia are always included in the price. Very convenient I
assure you!
2. The yogurt in Australia is alcoholic--I wondered why it tasted so
good!;)
3. In the country I am speaking of (and I'm already tired of saying "in
Australia" so just assume it) they set their table places upside-down!
Meaning that the knife is pointed blade downward along with the fork,
etc. I think they said it had something to do with Australian's feeling
their uniqueness of being the only country completely Down Under, so they
wanted to have a certain ironic characteristic about them. Don't worry,
this practice is generally only used just occasionally in the home, not
in formal restaurants!
4. Most public schools require their students to wear a uniform--imagine
if we tried to do that! I think some rebellious students would start
protesting about their "rights". . .
5. Victoria (the state where I stayed) is the only state to drive on the
left side of the road because of their dislike of Sydney.
6. If you had a bloody nose, you wouldn't say so exactly, but you would
say, "I have a blood nose." That's because like in England, "bloody" is a
swear word.
7. The correct way to pronounce "aluminum" is not "a-LOO-mi-num," but
"a-loo-MEN-yum."
8. You know how Victoria drives on the left side of the road? Well, when
they have turnarounds, they go clockwise instead of counterclockwise. As
a result of this, Australians decided to change some of their volleyball
rules so that they rotate the other way! They just prove their sense of
uniqueness.
9. Some Australians may eat beetroot or tomato sauce on their hamburger
and have brown "vegemite" on their toast (but NEVER on their biscuits).
10. If you were to order a pizza, and you wanted half to be pepperoni and
the other half to be just cheese, they would put the pepperoni on the
opposite side from that which we here in America would put it on! Talk
about different.
11. Many scented candles that you buy can serve as a flavored cigarette
as well. That doesn't seem to be the greatest encouragement for your
lunges!
12. They never call the restroom a bathroom, washroom, or a toilet--but
"the relief room." It took some getting used to--it was a few days before
I finally asked Amanda what those signs were for.:D
13. About seven years ago a movie was made in two weeks with a very low
budget--it was eighties style and a sattire on redneck Australians; this
movie is still one of the most popular movies in Australia, and I believe
has made more money than they spent. It's called "The Castle."
Righto, I'm sure there are more I could say when they come to me, but
this is the list for now. Hope you enjoyed them; and by the way, you get
to tell me which of these were fact and which of these were fiction! Good
luck.
p.s. Amanda don't give them away just yet! :D
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Fact or Fiction?
Friday, September 15, 2006
The Longest Day of My Life
This is just a little post to inform you all of Kayla's death. We're not too sure of the particulars but we have heard that her plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean, just two hundred miles southeast of Hawaii. The people evacuated to the life rafts but I guess some vicious Australian termites had lately taken a fancy to rubber so there were holes in the rafts and eventually everyone drowned, because the termites had eaten holes in their life jackets as well. And now I don't really know why I'm telling you this except to be random! But in case you actually cared enough about me (or were just gullible enough) to be worried, I can assure you that I am alive and well.
And that is exactly what this post is about: to inform you all that I have officially returned from faraway lands on the opposite underside of the globe! Our flights went well, though we were nervous about missing our flight in LA and I was nervous about missing my flight in Detroit as time got tight, but the Lord really watched out for us and answered prayers tremendously. So thank you so much if ever just once you thought to send up a prayer for me! It is greatly appreciated (and I appreciate it even if you thought of me once as far as that goes as well).
Hmmm, the strangeness of sleep is a very strange thing (I should be written down in history books as being profound). At one time you want it so badly you're drooping, then next thing you know you can't catch a wink! As for me, coming over I literally experienced the longest day of my life! Time zones are a mystery, they are. Anyway, I figured that it was about thirty-three hours from the time I got up at 5:30 am Tuesday morning (Australia time) to the time I got to bed around 12:30 am late Tuesday night, and in that time I went with about three hours of sleep. Granted, I did get an additional three to four hours of rest, but it still shouldn't be too surprising when my mom had to wake me up at two o'clock the next afternoon! The problem is that the night afterward I got about one hour of sleep. Go figure. Hmm, now do you agree with me that sleep is a fickle thing? Fortunately, I had my first night of normal sleep at home just last night! It was wonderful, and it was amazing that I could actually go to bed at the whopping semi-early time of nine o'clock! Maybe now I'm on the road to a normal life.
And that is exactly what this post is about: to inform you all that I have officially returned from faraway lands on the opposite underside of the globe! Our flights went well, though we were nervous about missing our flight in LA and I was nervous about missing my flight in Detroit as time got tight, but the Lord really watched out for us and answered prayers tremendously. So thank you so much if ever just once you thought to send up a prayer for me! It is greatly appreciated (and I appreciate it even if you thought of me once as far as that goes as well).
Hmmm, the strangeness of sleep is a very strange thing (I should be written down in history books as being profound). At one time you want it so badly you're drooping, then next thing you know you can't catch a wink! As for me, coming over I literally experienced the longest day of my life! Time zones are a mystery, they are. Anyway, I figured that it was about thirty-three hours from the time I got up at 5:30 am Tuesday morning (Australia time) to the time I got to bed around 12:30 am late Tuesday night, and in that time I went with about three hours of sleep. Granted, I did get an additional three to four hours of rest, but it still shouldn't be too surprising when my mom had to wake me up at two o'clock the next afternoon! The problem is that the night afterward I got about one hour of sleep. Go figure. Hmm, now do you agree with me that sleep is a fickle thing? Fortunately, I had my first night of normal sleep at home just last night! It was wonderful, and it was amazing that I could actually go to bed at the whopping semi-early time of nine o'clock! Maybe now I'm on the road to a normal life.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Concerning savages, mysterious food, corpses, and old maid vagabonds
We took a walk in a rain forest the other day. And it was a real rain forest, because it was rainy! ha ha ha. (that was such a corny pun, in case you couldn't already tell) It was really neat though, with the almost jungle vegetation and fern trees, myrtle, and whatnot. It made me feel like a savage again. . . .
The other night it was also interesting because we ate out with a Vietnamese, an Indian, a Portugese, and a half Egyptian! All of whom have grown up in Australia. Quite the exposure to unusual people I'm getting, eh?
Yesterday we went out to eat for Yum Cha. That was rather unusual--you know when you're eating at a real Chinese restaurant when most of the people eating there are Chinese and you have to ask for a fork and spoon! Basically Chinese waiters would drift by you with a tray of food and then tell you in nearly unintelligible English what it was they were offering. Some of it was guessing, since we didn't know what a lot of it was, and Kendra and I just kept looking at Amanda to see if she would accept it or not. If she did, we would usually get a small plate with three of the mystery items of it and we would each take one (very often we were vaguely aware what was in it however). You know something is gormet when you don't know what it is!
Now the rest of our time in Australia is running short. We leave Tuesday morning! We have a fourteen hour flight to LA, fly four hours to Indy, then I fly to Detroit, then on to Manchester, and get back late Tuesday night, even though it will have been twenty four hours or so since we left! Pray we won't be corpses at the end of it!
Tomorrow should also be busy. We plan to ride the train into the city with Amanda on her way to work, then go to the State Library to copy the article on the Coronet, and if we have time and the weather is okay we hope to go to the Botanic Gardens and the zoo, which is said to be one of the oldest in the world or something. It will be scary with just Kenny and me on our own though, so hopefully we won't become lost, mere old maid vagabonds to wander the streets of Melbourne in desperate confusion for the rest of our lives until insanity relieves us of our misery.
Then comes the grand challenge of packing! heh, heh, heh. Somehow I have to fit everything I brought and everything I bought back into my back without crushing anything or being overweight. Luckily coming over I had about fifteen more pounds to spare before my suitcase reached the fifty pound weight limit. I'm not sure if Kendra will be so fortunate, but we shall see.
So maybe, just perhaps, this will be my last post in Australia! We'll just wait and see.
p.s. I'll bet my title tricked you into reading my post, eh? hehe I guess it worked!
The other night it was also interesting because we ate out with a Vietnamese, an Indian, a Portugese, and a half Egyptian! All of whom have grown up in Australia. Quite the exposure to unusual people I'm getting, eh?
Yesterday we went out to eat for Yum Cha. That was rather unusual--you know when you're eating at a real Chinese restaurant when most of the people eating there are Chinese and you have to ask for a fork and spoon! Basically Chinese waiters would drift by you with a tray of food and then tell you in nearly unintelligible English what it was they were offering. Some of it was guessing, since we didn't know what a lot of it was, and Kendra and I just kept looking at Amanda to see if she would accept it or not. If she did, we would usually get a small plate with three of the mystery items of it and we would each take one (very often we were vaguely aware what was in it however). You know something is gormet when you don't know what it is!
Now the rest of our time in Australia is running short. We leave Tuesday morning! We have a fourteen hour flight to LA, fly four hours to Indy, then I fly to Detroit, then on to Manchester, and get back late Tuesday night, even though it will have been twenty four hours or so since we left! Pray we won't be corpses at the end of it!
Tomorrow should also be busy. We plan to ride the train into the city with Amanda on her way to work, then go to the State Library to copy the article on the Coronet, and if we have time and the weather is okay we hope to go to the Botanic Gardens and the zoo, which is said to be one of the oldest in the world or something. It will be scary with just Kenny and me on our own though, so hopefully we won't become lost, mere old maid vagabonds to wander the streets of Melbourne in desperate confusion for the rest of our lives until insanity relieves us of our misery.
Then comes the grand challenge of packing! heh, heh, heh. Somehow I have to fit everything I brought and everything I bought back into my back without crushing anything or being overweight. Luckily coming over I had about fifteen more pounds to spare before my suitcase reached the fifty pound weight limit. I'm not sure if Kendra will be so fortunate, but we shall see.
So maybe, just perhaps, this will be my last post in Australia! We'll just wait and see.
p.s. I'll bet my title tricked you into reading my post, eh? hehe I guess it worked!
The God next door
Do you realize that as soon as we were conceived, we were given a certificate of death? It's similar to a birth certificate, only the date is left blank, and we're left to wonder when that day will be. . . .
Do you realize that when God became flesh, He lived right among us and nobody recognized Him?
Imagine having God living next door.
"Honey, there's a new neighbor moved in beside us, can we give him a cake or something?"
"Sure no problem sweety."
Knock knock.
"Hi my name is Bernie. We live next door and we'd like to welcome you to the neighborhood. What's your name?"
"God."
"Oh that's nice; here's a cake."
Jesus was invincible, but He chose to die for us. The grave couldn't even hold Him! And now my certificate of death has been canceled, ripped, burned, destroyed so that it's zilch, nothing, nada!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now you got a church sermon before most of you people at home have even gone to church today! Ah, the advantages of being ahead of you guys (excepting Jane of course) is strange but blissful.
Do you realize that when God became flesh, He lived right among us and nobody recognized Him?
Imagine having God living next door.
"Honey, there's a new neighbor moved in beside us, can we give him a cake or something?"
"Sure no problem sweety."
Knock knock.
"Hi my name is Bernie. We live next door and we'd like to welcome you to the neighborhood. What's your name?"
"God."
"Oh that's nice; here's a cake."
Jesus was invincible, but He chose to die for us. The grave couldn't even hold Him! And now my certificate of death has been canceled, ripped, burned, destroyed so that it's zilch, nothing, nada!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now you got a church sermon before most of you people at home have even gone to church today! Ah, the advantages of being ahead of you guys (excepting Jane of course) is strange but blissful.
Friday, September 08, 2006
my wee report
K, here I am again!
Yesterday we got back from our two day trip on the Great Ocean Road. It was gorgeous! It reminded me of Cape Breton a little bit, with some cliffs, arches, and beautiful blue green water. We had a bunch of rain with the sunshine, but we saw nearly ten rainbows. Wowsers, God's creation is truly amazing!
On the way home we saw an echidna! It looks a little like a hedgehog but it has a long pointy snout. I wouldn't have known what it was when we passed it except that we went to the Healsville Sanctuary last Monday which had most of the Australian animals. We even got to see platypus! I had a lot of fun taking up close pictures of the animals (telephoto zoom works wonders), until Amanda's cousin George started joking about leaving me there overnight since I seemed to like it there so much.hehe
On Tuesday we went to the Vic Market, which was really neat. It reminded me of the Suq, King David Street, a flea market, a delhi, and a food court all in one! Inside was mostly food with their keepers set up in stalls, hurriedly supplying the demands of the waiting crowd, or just standing there bored with a couple yells or polite offerings of free samples. The place was fairly crowded, and as we dodged our way through the sporadic mass, a variety of smells hit me. Some of it was fish, but mostly it was odors I couldn't name, only guess at.
Large fish lay behind glass covers, or bright red meat tempted the bloodthirsty as their keepers frantically handed them out, for a price of course. Soon we started passing bread stalls, a cheese shop, or colorful candy places, all spread out confusedly one after another.
We soon left the indoors and went out under a huge covered pavilion, under which brightly colored fruit was arrayed, plus vegetables and such. Then we went under another covered area, larger than the last, with numerous very long aisles lined with a conglomeration of goods. T-shirts, Pooh blankets, boomerangs, wallets, jewelry, scarves, hats, postcards, calendars, stuffed animals, ties, shoes, and many other trinkets to amuse tourists, plus more practical stuff like baby clothes or sports team jerseys. I even saw a Red Sox jersey!!! I guess it just proves that Red Sox Nation rules even in Australia (true, I did see other teams, but Red Sox was most prominent and I didn't see any Yankees, which is very remarkable). Here we wandered and searched and browsed, making up our minds as we made our purchases for ourselves or others. We spent probably three hours there, but I didn't think it was near enough time!
That afternoon we went to a suburb called Brighton where they have a whole bunch of brightly painted boathouses lined up on the beach. The lighting was great, and they were so pretty! I think photographers Craig and Clyde would have drooled in contentment--I know I sure did!;) I snapped away, but only took like fifteen, when maybe I should have taken a roll (well, maybe; Craig probably would have:). We were only there just under half an hour though because Amanda had to get home and go to her Arabic lesson.
Today has kind of been a catch up day. We went to the supermarket and took a quick trip to the mall, but mostly I've been hanging around writing post cards or writing in my journal--I still have to catch up! Tonight we're going out to have Spanish donuts with a friend of Amanda's and two of her "Uni" friends. Speaking of donuts, we've discovered that people over here think it's nearly ridiculous to have donuts for breakfast! I think they think we're close to crazy or something, maybe. Amanda could hardly believe it when Kendra and I told her, and she went so far as to ask the lady at the gas station if she would ever eat donuts for breakfast. The lady replied no quite emphatically, and, since she was the friendly sort, she started to say that you would only eat donuts for breakfast if you were a "big fat guy" with nothing else to eat ("um, are you implying something?"). Okay, fellow Americans; prove I'm not crazy (maybe we all are): would YOU eat donuts for breakfast???
I'll leave you to ponder that question.
Yesterday we got back from our two day trip on the Great Ocean Road. It was gorgeous! It reminded me of Cape Breton a little bit, with some cliffs, arches, and beautiful blue green water. We had a bunch of rain with the sunshine, but we saw nearly ten rainbows. Wowsers, God's creation is truly amazing!
On the way home we saw an echidna! It looks a little like a hedgehog but it has a long pointy snout. I wouldn't have known what it was when we passed it except that we went to the Healsville Sanctuary last Monday which had most of the Australian animals. We even got to see platypus! I had a lot of fun taking up close pictures of the animals (telephoto zoom works wonders), until Amanda's cousin George started joking about leaving me there overnight since I seemed to like it there so much.hehe
On Tuesday we went to the Vic Market, which was really neat. It reminded me of the Suq, King David Street, a flea market, a delhi, and a food court all in one! Inside was mostly food with their keepers set up in stalls, hurriedly supplying the demands of the waiting crowd, or just standing there bored with a couple yells or polite offerings of free samples. The place was fairly crowded, and as we dodged our way through the sporadic mass, a variety of smells hit me. Some of it was fish, but mostly it was odors I couldn't name, only guess at.
Large fish lay behind glass covers, or bright red meat tempted the bloodthirsty as their keepers frantically handed them out, for a price of course. Soon we started passing bread stalls, a cheese shop, or colorful candy places, all spread out confusedly one after another.
We soon left the indoors and went out under a huge covered pavilion, under which brightly colored fruit was arrayed, plus vegetables and such. Then we went under another covered area, larger than the last, with numerous very long aisles lined with a conglomeration of goods. T-shirts, Pooh blankets, boomerangs, wallets, jewelry, scarves, hats, postcards, calendars, stuffed animals, ties, shoes, and many other trinkets to amuse tourists, plus more practical stuff like baby clothes or sports team jerseys. I even saw a Red Sox jersey!!! I guess it just proves that Red Sox Nation rules even in Australia (true, I did see other teams, but Red Sox was most prominent and I didn't see any Yankees, which is very remarkable). Here we wandered and searched and browsed, making up our minds as we made our purchases for ourselves or others. We spent probably three hours there, but I didn't think it was near enough time!
That afternoon we went to a suburb called Brighton where they have a whole bunch of brightly painted boathouses lined up on the beach. The lighting was great, and they were so pretty! I think photographers Craig and Clyde would have drooled in contentment--I know I sure did!;) I snapped away, but only took like fifteen, when maybe I should have taken a roll (well, maybe; Craig probably would have:). We were only there just under half an hour though because Amanda had to get home and go to her Arabic lesson.
Today has kind of been a catch up day. We went to the supermarket and took a quick trip to the mall, but mostly I've been hanging around writing post cards or writing in my journal--I still have to catch up! Tonight we're going out to have Spanish donuts with a friend of Amanda's and two of her "Uni" friends. Speaking of donuts, we've discovered that people over here think it's nearly ridiculous to have donuts for breakfast! I think they think we're close to crazy or something, maybe. Amanda could hardly believe it when Kendra and I told her, and she went so far as to ask the lady at the gas station if she would ever eat donuts for breakfast. The lady replied no quite emphatically, and, since she was the friendly sort, she started to say that you would only eat donuts for breakfast if you were a "big fat guy" with nothing else to eat ("um, are you implying something?"). Okay, fellow Americans; prove I'm not crazy (maybe we all are): would YOU eat donuts for breakfast???
I'll leave you to ponder that question.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
brief updates
I have added some new words to my vocabulary: "sunnies," "chewy," and "workmate." Can you figure out what they are?
I met a whole bunch of Aussies at an Italian restaurant for a birthday party. Pretty interesting. . . . they were rather interested in what I thought was the biggest difference between our countries. One of them somehow got it into his head that we were from Arkansas! "Doesn't Bill Clinton live in Arkansas?" he asked. Ah, maybe that's why I've never been there. . .
I've had my first real fish and chips meals, and I got to eat shark. . .
Went to a cheap souvenir shop yesterday. . .
Saw a couple great lookouts and visited the water. . .
Saw my first kangaroo crossing sign today. . . .
And now you've heard my very brief update from Down Undah!
I met a whole bunch of Aussies at an Italian restaurant for a birthday party. Pretty interesting. . . . they were rather interested in what I thought was the biggest difference between our countries. One of them somehow got it into his head that we were from Arkansas! "Doesn't Bill Clinton live in Arkansas?" he asked. Ah, maybe that's why I've never been there. . .
I've had my first real fish and chips meals, and I got to eat shark. . .
Went to a cheap souvenir shop yesterday. . .
Saw a couple great lookouts and visited the water. . .
Saw my first kangaroo crossing sign today. . . .
And now you've heard my very brief update from Down Undah!
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