Two Weeks Later

Sep 132008
 

Two weeks ago, we moved out of our Australian townhome and headed to the airport hotel. We stayed there one night, and then spent the next 24 hours flying. Paul was a great sport on the plane, and I’m forever grateful that the company bought us business class seats and Paul got his own.

Two weeks after moving from the other side of the globe, there are still insomnia-filled nights for me, but my internal clock is getting a little better. Paul is on a perfect schedule (8 p.m. to 8 a.m.) and I hope he stays that way! I’m loving the spacious parking lots, low prices at the supermarket, and wonderfully book-filled libraries.

Here are some highlights of what we’ve been doing.

  • We stayed a week with my mom and dad. (But we were very busy getting set up so we didn’t see much of them!)
  • I got a new mobile telephone that has a U.S. number, so people, you can call me again! (Email me at rebecca [at] reid-family [dot] org for the number if you want it.)
  • We got a great deal on my new car. (And I love it!)
  • I only drove on the wrong side of the road twice. (Unfortunately, both times were when I was test driving a car through a dealership, so it was kind of embarrassing.)
  • We signed a six-month lease for an apartment, moved in, and unpacked. (Email me at rebecca [at] reid-family [dot] org for the address if you want it.)
  • We’ve eaten out. A lot.
  • We bought a used seven-piece solid wood bedroom set for the price of a brand new dresser. It includes a headboard and footboard, a long dresser, a mirror, an armoire, and two side tables.
  • We bought Paul a dresser and a crib (still to be delivered).
  • I bought myself a new comfy chair for Paul’s room (still to be delivered). (I sold mine in Australia in June and I was so very sad!)
  • See Paul’s highlights here.

On the schedule for the coming days:

  • Visit with family!
  • Meet our new ward.
  • Cook a real meal.
  • Get my husband a new job.
  • Buy a house (well, we have five months for this one).

About our apartment: It’s small. There are three bedrooms of adequate size, one of which is our study. But the kitchen is very small, the living room doesn’t fit our furniture, and the dining area is now divided into a play area as well. The carpet stinks. The walls are full of marks from previous renters (of course, it was repainted), but all that’s to be expected. It’s an apartment, not a palace.

This apartment won’t work for the long run, but it will work as a temporary spot while we begin serious house hunting. We’re going to be looking in the Crystal Lake area, but that location could change any day, I suppose.

Someday we’ll have a house!

Why I Like Tipping

Sep 032008
 

We made it to the USA. And it feels good. There are a million things we missed.

One example from today: In the midst of a million errands, we stopped at a restaurant for a late lunch. Can I just say, I love the policy of tipping for better service?

  • The waitress brought us our drinks in about 2 minutes. She even put the water I’d requested for my 11-month-old in a plastic cup with a lid.
  • She came back when we were ready to order.
  • She refilled our drinks almost instantly, which meant she was watching us to see when we were almost empty.
  • She smiled at my son and acted like a human that was interested in whether we were having a pleasant time and enjoying our meal.
  • She promptly brought us our meal.

In Australia, tipping is not expected. In fact, a few Australians told me very emphatically never to tip because they don’t want to ever be expected to tip.

The result of no tipping? Horrible dining-out experiences. For example, we went to dinner the night before we returned home. Just as today, I only saw one or two wait staff and it wasn’t very busy. However, our waitress that night seemed bothered when I hunted her down for everything we needed: we’re ready to order, more water please, I’d like a take home case, could I please have the check?. Eating out is more expensive in Australia, but there is no incentive to ever go back again: the service is so lousy. (We only ate out infrequently because it was so unpleasant and annoying. Not that we eat out frequently anyway, but still! When it’s a horrible experience, we’re not likely to repeat it soon.)

I will never complain again about the expectation to tip! It makes it so much better in the long run!

P.S. The bill today was significantly less than the bill in Australia, even with a generous tip and the dollar conversion rate.

May Day Mayday

May 012008
 

May Day, definition: May 1 celebrated as a springtime festival

I am feeling kind of down these days. Everyone is writing on their blogs about the beautiful flowers they are enjoying, about the lovely weather they are hoping for, about SPRING. My days are getting progressively colder and the leaves are mostly finished changing colors and dropping. I was having a hard time getting out the house before it got cold: now I can see I’m just going to spend the next few months indoors. It takes twice as long to get Paul ready to go out because I have to bundle him up. I think we’ll stay indoors.

This morning, I realized it was May Day. I have always had a special place in my heart for May Day. One year, when I was a depressed, lonely, loner teenager, a friend of mine left me a bouquet of roses on May Day. “Happy May Day!” the note said. She left them anonymously, but I knew who it was. I haven’t talked to her for years, but I’ll always remember the service she did for me back on that spring day when I felt so awkward and alone. It was a reminder that in the “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer” (Camus); I just needed to stop thinking about myself and serve, as she did.

It’s just so sad that this year’s May Day is rainy, overcast, cold, and only getting colder. I must remember that summer will eventually come again.

I miss spring! (I guess it serves me right for bragging about good produce in November!)

Mayday, definition: an international radio-telephone signal word used as a distress call

I’m trying to find my ancestors. I researched James and Margaret and found their supposed marriage date in an index of marriages. The UK likes to horde the originals and won’t let anyone (even LDS volunteers) digitize or scan them for microfilm. So, for £13 I ordered the marriage certificate. (Yes, Mom, I know you claim Grandma already had one, but when I visited, we searched her apartment and couldn’t find it.)

For some reason, I thought that the marriage certificate would tell me everything. I guess I imagined a large packet or box delivered to my door with birth information and parental details, complete with an explanation of the mystery of where, when, and why Margaret disappeared fifteen years later.

Here’s what I got: a barely legible official copy of the certificate on file in a slim, small, half-sheet-of-paper-sized envelope.

The certificate tells me their names and professions, their ages, etc. Most of the information we already knew.

But here are my questions:

  • If I didn’t know which James Simon/Simons/Simmons was my ancestor, how could I be sure this was their marriage certificate?
  • How can I figure out where they were born? Tradition holds James Simmons as Irish, but we don’t know where he came from or when he came to England.
  • How do I find where, when, and to whom James Delany/Simons was born? Because he was aged four at the 1871 census, he couldn’t possibly have been born to James and Margaret unless he was born out of wedlock.
  • Could James Delany/Simmons have been born out of wedlock in the 1860s? Wouldn’t that have been pretty scandalous for this Catholic family? Can I assume he was born to people who were married?

I am completely lost as to where to begin. I’ll head to the Family History Library next Wednesday when it’s open, but my experience is the librarians there are as clueless as I am.

PLEASE HELP if you have any experience with family history!

Note: Any Benac family members who’d like to save £13 can view and download a high-res jpg of this image here for your own family history files.

Aussie-American Translation Guide

Apr 022008
 

I’ve been in the country for more than nine months now. I’ve been picking up some of the language they use. For your convenience, here is a handy guide for your study.

Disclaimer: While I hear these terms on a daily basis, I do not use them. I will not be held responsible for how ridiculous you, as an American, will sound when you try to speak Australian slang. We Americans just can’t pull it off.

Australian English American English Sample Sentence
Aussie citizen of Australia (pronounce Ozzy)
bench counter Put the refreshments on the bench.
bubs a nickname for a baby Bubs is getting so big!
car park parking garage There is a car park around the corner from the library.
Cheerio! So long!
cot crib Paul only sleeps well in his cot.
dummy pacifier Paul thinks his dummy is yummy.
hamper basket The week before Christmas, bring some fruit for hampers for the poor.
heaps a lot Last week, it rained heaps.
How you going?/How are you going? What’s up? or How are you doing?
mozzies mosquitoes There are so many mozzies tonight!
nappy (-ies) diaper(s) Paul has a wet nappy!
supper a light refreshment in the evening After the baptism, we’ll have supper in the foyer.
tcha OK/the end of a conversation
tea (1) The evening meal; (2) mid-afternoon snack; (3) a hot beverage (1) Would you like to come to tea Sunday after church? (2) She said she’d bring some rolls for tea for new mum’s group Tuesday. (3) do you really need an example?
trolley shopping cart

Melting into the New Year

Jan 012008
 

We’re melting this week.

We have something in common with all you winter people: it’s 35 degrees outside!

The difference, of course, is that our 35 degrees is in Celsius and your 35 degrees is in Fahrenheit. Oh wait, I just checked the forecast: you’re below 35 degrees now.

We’re melting.

It would be so nice to have a nice snowball fight, to rub ice cold snow on the nape of my neck, to feel a bitter cold wind against my face. If only we could just sit in the winter air for just for an hour or two. It would a welcome respite from this already unbearably hot summer.

Even with the swamp cooler running all day, it’s 30 degrees inside.

I never thought I’d be cooped up inside on New Years because of the heat, but that’s what’s happening.

It’s just so hot.

We hope your New Year is not too hot and not too cold! Happy New Year!

Spring Ride

Dec 132007
 

Despite the carols echoing through the mall, we can’t go on a sleigh ride this year. I keep hearing from you about all the snow and the snowmen and snowballs and how much fun all the kids are having and it sounds like so much fun!

Actually, it sounds cold. I don’t really miss it.

Last weekend, we celebrated the season by taking a long drive through the Yarra ranges. We were scouting out photography spots, but nothing grabbed our attention so we didn’t end up taking any pictures. Our drive to Noojee back in August was much nicer. Instead, we drove and talked and listened to Christmas music and stopped for a spring picnic in a park. Paul was a great sport. We’re glad he’s little enough to not complain about a long drive!

One disadvantage of an Australian spring picnic: There are LOTS of flies in this country.

Our Christmas season will be celebrated by another picnic this Saturday. It will be our ward Christmas party. If only there weren’t any flies!

‘Tis the Season?

Nov 192007
 

At church, they’ve announced the ward Christmas party.

It is a picnic at a park.

As I shop at the store, I see Christmas lights and Christmas decorations and Christmas sales.

But what is wrong with this picture?
20071114100333.jpg

Exactly: They are eating their holiday turkey around a pool.

Is it really Thanksgiving for all of you?

It is spring, and summer is coming. At 9 p.m. the other night, the bank displayed a temperature of 28 degrees. And with the air conditioning set at “high” all day, the house is still 23 degrees!

I can’t bring myself to roast a turkey and bake pumpkin pie. It’s too hot. Maybe we’ll grill some burgers and make a fruit salad and sit out in the back yard.

Last year, my husband and I were listening to Christmas songs on Halloween. This year, neither of us can bring ourselves to listen to them. Christmas songs just seem odd right now. How can we listen to “Let it snow! Let it snow!” when it is more than 30 degrees outside?

(Just to clarify: I don’t have any idea what the temperature is in Fahrenheit. But I do know it is very hot!)

I can’t imagine Christmas at all. How can I get into the season despite the season?

Daylight

Oct 282007
 

My son awoke at 4:30 this morning (and at 12:30 and 3, but that’s besides the point). As I climbed the stairs to his nursery, I was somewhat consoled by the fact that this was Daylight Savings Time night. It’s October, so I knew that I would be gaining an hour: it was really only 3:30. I would get a few more hours of sleep!

As I sat with him, I started to realize that the night sky was getting lighter. I no longer needed the nightlight to see in front of me. I peered out of his window to see a bright red ball peeking out behind the clouds. It was beautiful, and it was definitely a sunrise.

A sunrise at 4 a.m.? If the sun rises that early this week, how early would it rise next week? Aren’t the days getting longer?

And then I realized what I’ve always known: Spring Forward, Fall Back. It is October. That means it is Spring. I didn’t gain an hour, I lost it. It wasn’t 4 a.m. It was 6 a.m.

Night was over. It was day.

I suppose it doesn’t really matter what time the clock said it was. Paul was sure it was morning. He wouldn’t yawn or flutter his eyelids even the slightest, despite the fact that I closed all of his blinds and bound him up tightly in a blanket and held him closely for 30 minutes.

I guess he’s getting pretty smart. When he sees daylight, he thinks it’s time to be awake. Even if Mommy wants to sleep.

Cultural Literacy

Sep 192007
 

I have been pretty good at keeping track of the cultural differences of living in Australia. For example, I no longer walk to the left door of the car first when I go to drive, and I haven’t driven on the wrong side of the road for weeks. I have no problems using cash because I know which coins are each denomination.

I messed up this week.

Here’s the background: To come to Australia on a three-year visa, we are supposed to undertake a chest X-ray. As I was in the first trimester of pregnancy at that time, I declined. I signed a legal form saying I’d be happy to do it at a later date. The government was nice enough to let me come anyway.

A few weeks ago I got the letter from the government clinic that told me that my appointment for the X-ray was scheduled for 10/09/2007 and gave me directions to the clinic. Alright, there is a good chance my baby will have been born by then, I thought, so I put it on my schedule for October, intending to call if I didn’t think I’d make it or if the baby had just come.

So it quite surprised me to get another letter this week telling me that I’d missed my appointment. I was confused. I know my calendar says October! I would have called to reschedule if I thought it was in September (my baby’s still not here…). How could I have missed it?

Oops!

Does anyone else see what my error was?

I’ve been pretty good at remembering the reversed dates issue. My hospital appointment dates are always written in “reverse,” and my first day at the hospital here the doctor kept getting confused by my US obstetrician’s report because the dates were American. But somehow I was completely flummoxed by the date in this letter. I called to tell the clinic that I was just very dumb–I’m not trying to give the government the runaround or anything. The woman at the clinic didn’t seem concerned at all that I’d missed my appointment. I guess this happens. I’m rescheduled for the end of November.

You’d think that I wouldn’t have such confusion. I speak English. This is a modern country that is very much like America. And yet, there are cultural differences that confuse me if I’m not paying careful attention. I wish I could say it won’t happen again, but chances are it will happen again–when I’m not thinking.

What I Miss

Sep 012007
 

This week, I decided I miss good old American shopping.

I miss:

  • Being able to find prices for things like brooms and ironing boards and baby clothes and sheets online at various stores, then going to the store and getting the exact one I want.
  • Frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast (or any frozen meat, for that matter!)
  • Apple sauce (I never thought it would be so hard to find. I miss rows of Motts to choose from!)
  • Corn meal (polenta mix just isn’t quite the same–too gritty)
  • Cream of Wheat (for me) and grits (for my husband)
  • Variety of breakfast cereals (where are my two aisles?)
  • Frozen pizzas (what ever you do, don’t try a grocery store frozen pizza!)
  • Readily prepared foods (such as a vegetable platter)
  • Carmex (Thanks, Mom, for sending some! Chap Stick doesn’t cut it.)
  • Affordable makeup (The kind of foundation I particularly like is $20, which I’m sure is more than twice as much as that particular Maybelline style in the States. I think I’ll go for the generic. I don’t care about makeup THAT much.)

So here’s today’s story: I volunteered to bring a vegetable platter to a ward event tonight. I figured that would be the easiest possible option. Go to the store, buy a platter and dip, and voila! But no, they don’t have those here anywhere. I had to buy broccoli and cut it up! How old-fashioned!

Here’s the other story: The other day I went to no fewer than three stores before I found an acceptable ironing board (Target, Kmart, and Big W). All of these stores are in malls. Why can’t there be a store that stands by itself and has acceptable parking? I’m very tired of walking through malls. Besides, all of them have these very tempting ice cream kiosks on every corner. It’s very hard to resist (but I did! This time, at least.).

So, this week I really started missing all those good old American comforts when it comes to shopping. Go eat some apple sauce and enjoy it.

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