As you guys are enjoying the cooler weather and the last few days of summer, I’m eagerly awaiting the warmer weather of spring time. It’s been a COLD winter and I’m so over it! It seriously can’t be over soon enough. The winter weather in Sydney isn’t all that different than a Texas winter, but there are some huge differences. For example, in Texas I’d walk from my heated home to my heated car (with seat warmers) into my heated school, store, etc. This winter I’ve spent more time outdoors during winter than I ever have before because of having to rely on public transportation. I’ve never gotten this much use out of winter coats, gloves, and scarves! They actually serve a purpose beyond just being cute. Another big difference is that Sydney, for the most part, doesn’t have central heat and air in their homes or other buildings. So instead of coming home to a warm apartment, it’s always cold. I stay bundled up in my Snuggie and turn on this little floor heater we bought. As much as you all would have liked to share some of the heat over the past few weeks, I would have gladly welcomed it.
Both Paul and I have been staying busy the past few weeks. His work has been crazy busy lately, if not completely overwhelming. Unfortunately, some days at my job have been the same. At this point we’re both trying to keep our heads above water and enjoy the downtime the weekends bring. The sad thing is that I often have a difficult time not doing anything – maybe you’ve noticed. ;) My desire to fill our weekends with activities has only left us more exhausted. I should have learned my lesson by now, but I haven’t. Oh well.
In late July our wonderful friend, Courtney, visited. She brought a little bit of home with her during her visit (figuratively and literally) and her enthusiasm of all things Australia helped snap me out of some of the winter melancholy-ness I had been feeling. While Courtney, was here she and I had a girls weekend in Melbourne visiting an ice bar with sub zero temperatures and very cold drinks and a koala conservatory, among other things. Yes, the koalas were cute but we both had more fun and doubled over with laughter listening to an audio recording of a female koala mating. It was so great that we even pulled over several other tourists to listen because it was too good to miss out on. I’m giggling now just remembering it.
Courtney and I also attended a ‘Grease’ themed event where we learned the choreography of ‘Greased Lightening’ with 300 people, a pole dancing class that was very difficult and resulted in greater admiration of anyone working the pole (they definitely deserve more than a $1 bill!), parasailing, dolphin watching, and sand boarding among many other fun activities. The sand boarding was a blast!! Sitting on the boards we sailed down the sand dunes and then had to endure the long walk back up the dune only to do it all over again. And we got sand EVERYWHERE, but it was such fun!
I’ve been working hard to get back into a regular workout routine and am enjoying attending classes at my gym. Some days it’s a struggle to get to the classes as I’m caught at work later than anticipated, but I do my best. The gym is located near a couple of Sydney universities and has a lot of college kids as members. The best compliment I’ve been paid recently is when they ask me if I’m still in college. When I reply and tell them I’ve been working for awhile now, they just look at me in awe as if I’ve been working so long that I’m now almost ready for retirement. That’s where the previous compliment takes a downturn.
As I continue to gain a group of friends, I strongly encourage Paul to attend some of the events and activities that he normally wouldn’t be asked to attend. I’m very, very fortunate to be blessed with a husband that will check out most anything with me just because he wants to make me happy. Recently we’ve been to a Roller Derby bout and a Bollywood dinner cruise. Next weekend we’re doing a more Paul oriented activity by attending a sailing class on the Sydney Harbour and we’ve also got tickets to a drive-in theater (yep, we’ll be renting a car). We also have a stunt driving course scheduled in the near future so it’s not always about me…..just usually.
Even though Paul is game for most events/activities, I couldn’t convince him to attend my recent hula hoop workshop or a workshop dedicated to learning the choreography to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’. (The ‘Thriller’ routine is in preparation for the International Thrill the World Day in October – google it for more info. I’m already gathering ideas about my zombie costume now.) Next up is Beyonce’s ‘All the Single Ladies’……it’ll be a blast even though I have no rhythm. Luckily, making a fool out of yourself on a regular basis isn’t a big deal in a country and city in which you don’t know many people.
Many of you regularly ask about my job and I purposely do not write about in my blog for concern of potential ramifications of saying too much, etc. Maybe I’m too cautious, but I’ve got to keep my job because there are lots of other fun workshops coming up! Actually, work is great and I really LOVE my job and the boys. Although some days I feel like I have no idea where to go next with a kid/parent/student and a complete failure, I really do like my job and feel that I’m usually pretty good at it.
Every year grades 3-6 go to camp for a week and that is where I’m headed soon!! I can’t wait!! Each grade goes to a different camp site where the staff there entertain them with typical camp activities – archery, horseback riding, arts and crafts, etc. I LOVED, LOVED, Girl Scout camp and church camp as a kid so I’m super excited to participate and get to know some boys that I don’t have the opportunity to work with on a regular basis. My mom even sent the ingredients to make s’mores at camp, but I don’t think they’re going to make it. They’re just too good to not have some on an occasional, okay regular, basis. I have shared s’mores with staff and students at school and have had mostly very positive responses. Australia doesn’t have graham crackers so that is the main problem, but it’s also concerning because Hersheys chocolate isn’t readily available. I’ve been using the national chocolate of Australia, but between you and me it’s not that good and definitely impacts the overall taste of the s’more.
Another awesome benefit of the Australian school system is their holiday calendar. The school year runs the calendar year and is broken up into 4 terms with holiday breaks between. Our next holiday is in 3 weeks and Paul and I are headed to India. For years we’ve been talking about India and this travel opportunity just popped up at the right time. I’ll stay for two weeks traveling and celebrating my birthday and Paul will have to head back to work after a week. Regardless, it’ll be a memory making kind of trip for both of us!
My summer break starts in December so we’re planning to spend 2 weeks in New Zealand in a campervan exploring the South Island. Talk about testing the limits of our marriage!! I’m sure we’ll be fine in a campervan and if not, we’ll just get a hotel. Following New Zealand, we’ll celebrate Christmas and New Year’s in Sydney and then I’m heading to Texas for the month of January. I just signed up for my next half-marathon at Walt Disney World so training over the next few months will also keep me busy, exhausted, and sore. Fun, fun times ahead!!
There wasn’t much wit or interesting cultural facts in this blog, but hopefully it’ll give you an idea of how we’re living our life on the other side of the world. Seeing as we’ve now been here for 7 months, I guess we’re just living our normal lives.
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