Winter

Winter is here again. It's that time of year when everyone from North America laughs at us when we whinge about how cold it is. But once again, I remind you that houses here are built like crap. Insulation, doors and windows that seal properly, vents in the walls that close -- all completely foreign concepts. That's fine for spring and fall, but it turns out Sydney has 4 seasons. We have recorded indoor temperatures below freezing and above 100F during our time here in Oz. A lot of houses (like our first house) don't even come with any heating/cooling options. And central heating??? - forget it, unless you're insanely wealthy. Lots of layers and blankets - that's how most people make it through winter. One friend makes her kids put on their down coats if they get cold (yes, they got down coats just to wear around the house).

When we moved to Dubbo, we were excited because the house had a fireplace... which we were forbidden from using. :( But this house has a great wood stove that we're allowed to use, and has become my new best friend!!


Bring it on, winter!!!

[PS - It was just announced that this was the coldest May in 41 years! Makes me love our wood stove even more!]

Another Visitor!!

Yay – someone else is coming to visit!! That will bring us up to 4 visitors in 3 years! (Unfortunately that includes Stan the Man – a paper doll.)

My cousin Ingrid is coming over in June for 4 weeks, and we’re really looking forward to it. Theoretically she’s coming over to get some science experience, and Ben and I have outlined a project for her to work on… but my mind keeps turning to all the fun things we could do with her, instead!

Our families have had some great adventures together – a long-standing Thanksgiving tradition, summers in grandma & grandpa’s pool, family reunions in Hawaii, lots of hikes. When Jen and I were in high school, we visited them in North Carolina over spring break and took a road trip out to Cape Hatteras.

My most vivid memory from that trip was on the drive home – Ingrid’s stomach was having a rough time, and after the second or third time that we stopped, her loving brother Carl said “Why don’t we just hang her out the window – then she can ralph all she wants.” Don’t worry, Ingrid, I promise we won’t hang you out any windows.

And when Ben and I were working in Alaska, they came up to visit us in Kantishna. And even though they were attacked by giant mosquitoes while trying to make a cast of a bear print, they still seemed to have a good time.

So we’re looking forward to more good times with Ingrid, and excited about showing-off Oz to another visitor!

My Birthday

Another year done-and-dusted!!

It was a low-key celebration this year, but we had a surprise delivery from "Mum" (whoever that is) and Dad :)

Lingo-Lessons: Pear-shaped

I’m learning that many of our “Aussie lingo-lessons” are actually “Brit lingo-lessons”. But we’re learning them here, so I’ll continue to attribute them to Oz.

So for me, “pear-shaped” means that something is shaped like a pear.

Here, it is used when things have gone wrong, or not quite the way you planned. As in “The date was going really well, but then his ex-girlfriend showed up and things went a bit pear-shaped.” Or “The Tigers just keep narrowly loosing – this season has just gone all pear-shaped for them.”

I forget which natural disaster it was recently – the floods, the earthquakes, the cyclones, the bush fires – but for one of them, I heard a news reporter state “Things have gone all pear-shaped in (wherever), with the body count continuing to rise.” I’m obviously not that comfortable with Aus-speak, yet, because that totally didn’t work for me - it just seemed to trivialize the whole disaster.