The Aussie alphabet: P is for possum

Often of a summer evening, well, really any time of year, we would be enjoying dinner or after-dinner on the deck and be visited by a possum. I don't know if it was always the same possum, but it was always interested if there was food on the table. Sometimes it would come quite close to the table (and us around it).

These possums are Oz natives, as you can read here in the Wikipedia entry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_brushtail_possum

Here's an explanation of the difference between Opossums that are native to the Northern hemisphere, and Possums that are native to Oz, from the perspective of a Kiwi. Possums were

introduced from Oz to NZ (bad idea apparently as they are now a big PEST) but their fur does make lovely knitted goods so that's an idea for you knitters.

https://www.outlawyarn.com/possum.html#/

You can see they're sort of cute. But mostly you don't want to get that close to them.

The Aussie alphabet: M is for morning tea

Morning tea. Now there is a custom that needs to be adopted in the US.

Morning tea - not just a cup of something hot at around 10 or 10:30 in the morning, like the American coffee break.

Morning tea has tea, yes; coffee (always - this is Australia where they are serious about coffee). But there's more! Because you can't drink tea or coffee without a little bit of something to go with it, can you?

Scones. Banana bread or carrot cake. Lamingtons (yuck, but some people like). Even brownies. Or savoury treats like mini-quiches. Often bite-sized so you can have more than one or two. Sometimes fruit. Mmmmmm. You almost don't need lunch.

No conference, meeting, or gathering that happens in the morning will fail to offer you morning tea. It's part of the deal. Always good to know in case you didn't leave yourself enough time to eat breakfast; you needn't worry that you'll faint before lunchtime. Morning tea to the rescue.

I shouldn't leave M, though, without mentioning 'mate' and mateship. 

Mate = friend, buddy, pal; can be used as a noun ('my mates are coming by later') or a form of address to virtually anyone regardless of how well you know them ('hey mate, how're you going?' - to a friend you haven't seen in a while; 'no worries, mate' - to a stranger who has just apologised to you for some minor contretemps like bumping into you in a crowded space). In the past it was used mostly by men ('blokes') to other men. These days it's for anyone, though it seems to me I hear it mostly from blokes.

Mateship = an Australian value implying equality, loyalty, and friendship (says Wikipedia). A bit more intense than camaraderie. It comes up in military contexts where each one depends on and looks out for all the rest, a Band of Brothers kind of thing, or other circumstances in which a group of people share a common, usually difficult, experience.

6 years

This past weekend marked 6 years since Phil and I arrived in Oz for our gig. And it has been an adventure for sure.

We made some good friends.

Bought, and sold, a house.

Got to know two different neighbourhoods in Brisbane quite well and became acquainted with a few others. 

Visited North Qld, Byron Bay (several times), Sydney, Melbourne (both multiple times), Adelaide, Hobart, and surrounding areas of each.

For my part, I finished a PhD and a few quilts, taught some fabulous future midwives, and helped a few young new Australians learn English.

Phil created and led an innovation lab at the university, with much success and some frustration, and was sought out as a consultant or speaker at universities and schools, and even the Federal government.

Now as we anticipate leaving in just a few weeks, here is what I'll miss:

Friends.

TimTams. Yes, you can order them on Amazon, but they are super expensive, so no.

Living on the river in West End with the view that I never tire of, and where I can walk to everything. 

The CityCat ferries, most civilised transportation ever.

The weather, especially spring and fall.

The jacarandas in bloom in October.

Being 2 hours from Melbourne.

Really excellent wine, even though I can't drink very much of it at a time.

Prices that include tax and service charge.

Uncertainty is life

Where has the time gone? As of January, we've been in the Treehouse for 4 years, and as of last month, in Oz for 4 1/2. That means that our first 5 years in Oz are rapidly coming to a close. And let me tell you there's nothing like the impending end of an employment contract to get you thinking about, well, pretty much everything.

Now that I'm no longer a student, I have the opportunity to look for a job. But where should I look? In pursuit of a return to the US, Phil's job hunting back there, but nothing has come up on that front yet. UQ would like him to stay, and that's looking likely at least for another year. So then, look here. But what if a US job comes through for Phil? So then, wait.

Further in pursuit of a return to the US, we've put the Treehouse on the market. Now, the Treehouse isn't your ordinary house. It will not appeal to the average person. You need to be a bit adventurous to live here, and not mind spiders or geckos. You need to appreciate the quirks and not mind the upkeep too much. Knowing this, we decided to sell up as soon as we can, after which we'll either move our stuff and ourselves back to the US, or move to a more modestly-sized rental in Brisbane for however much longer we're here. After a month on the market and 4 open houses, accompanied first by online and now by print advertising ($$$$!), we've had exactly 0 serious interest. At least we can say that we correctly anticipated a tough sell. 3 more open houses and we go to auction on the 25th of May, and see what happens.

But even this is fraught. What if a buyer wants to close quickly? What will we do with all our stuff, which now fills 11 rooms and the storage space under the house, and only some of which we need to have to hand? Rent storage (an action I vowed never to take)? Engage a mover now for storage until we actually do leave? Clearly triaging of possessions will be required and these will include some that were not mine originally and that I didn't want to bring here in the first place. Fireworks will ensue, I have no doubt.

So supposing we stay: what sort of job should I look for? I haven't practiced midwifery in nearly 5 years but I have no immediate prospects for practice here. No one's hiring except one midwifery education program; they want a full-time person, and I don't want to work full-time. I just helped my physio PhD advisor write a grant that includes a 0.8 FTE research assistant position, and I might be a candidate for that position, IF she gets the grant and IF it's funded. Did I get a PhD to be a research assistant? 

Here are my big worries: What if 6 months go by and the house hasn't sold? What if Phil finds a job in the US and the house hasn't sold? What if we can't sell it for enough to at least get our down payment back after we pay off the mortgage and the real estate agent's fee and still have enough left to fund the move back?

And, not so big but a factor nonetheless: we could be leaving before I've had a chance to see Perth, and Darwin, and Singapore, and Thailand and NZ, and some of those islands in the S. Pacific. It's a long and expensive way to come on a holiday from the US. If that weren't the case, we would have had more visitors here at the Treehouse. So, as much as I want to go back and be Marmee, I also want to stay and see more of this part of the world while it's a shorter and cheaper trip to do so.

So, there it all is, but I have to stop thinking about it before my head explodes. Channeling Scarlett O'Hara - I'll think about it tomorrow.

The Aussie alphabet: L is for larrikin

So, Wikipedia says larrikin refers to a "mischievous or frolicsome youth" and larrikinism an "Australian folk tradition of irreverence, mockery of authority and disregard for rigid norms of propriety."  The Ur-larrikin was, of course, Ned Kelly, although I think there's a pretty big gap between irreverence and shooting police, which is the most serious crime of which he was accused.  He usually expressed his larrikinism by committing robberies, cattle rustling, the sort of thing that today might be referred to as hooning.


L also stands for a couple of other Oz specialties:

Lantana.  It's pretty, right?

1) Lantana.  A movie with Italian-Australian actor Anthony LaPaglia.  Also, and more annoyingly, a ubiquitous and noxious and invasive weed that grows everywhere around here.  My thought: "But it's so pretty!"  See for yourself.


2) Lunch, Sunday.  It's not that all they do here is eat.  But let's face it, sharing a meal with friends is one of the joys of life, and Aussies take a back seat to no one in that department. Besides morning tea and of course the barbeque, another mealtime custom is Sunday lunch.  It seems to be one of the Brit customs that has survived the colonial period.  Not unlike the Sunday dinners of my childhood, except that it's not preceded by church-going, and it doesn't always feature a big piece of dead animal, at least not among people with whom I've shared it.  Wikipedia says it's aka Sunday roast - but dead animals are optional.  The important ingredients are food and friends, and perhaps a nice bottle or two of wine.  Lovely way to spend a Sunday arvo - that's "afternoon" for those of you who don't know Strine.

Thoughts on 2+ years in Oz

I was just reviewing my "what I miss/don't miss" and what I love/don't love" lists and realised I had to make some changes. It seems trite to say it, but a lot has happened since we moved here in September 2008. The Aussie dollar is now at parity with the US dollar, which is bad and good at the same time. Good when I have to feed our US bank account with Aussie dollars; bad when I look at the prices of some things here (shoes, bathing suits, books, electronic equipment and sometimes food, just to name a few) and where I used to say "well, X dollars, that's not so bad, it's really only .7 or .8X dollars in REAL money," I can no longer make that comparison.

On my love/miss lists, probably the biggest change has been the availability of good ice cream, i.e. Ben & Jerry's imported from the US of A. This is to take nothing away from the local purveyors of quite good gelato, but everyone knows gelato is not the same thing. My Ben & Jerry's moment arrived a few months ago when Brisbane-area delis started stocking 7 or 8 flavours, of which I actually only bother with one (Half-Baked, if you must know). I wonder what misguided market research led B&J's Australia to decide not to import Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz to this land of coffee and more coffee. And, sadly for me, there is also no Mint Chocolate Chunk to be had in pint containers, which by the way cost $11.95 at my nearest deli (I told you shit was expensive here!) making it an occasional treat, not a way of life. Sydney and now Melbourne have Scoop Shops; here in the provinces we're still waiting for one. If we should be so blessed, I am pretty sure my favourite MCC, as well as CCBBB for Phil, will be on the menu.

Bagels: not great bagels, but actually boiled and then baked bagels are for sale in the supermarket (plain or poppy), and in the CBD (that's Strine for "downtown") there's now a cute little place called Bagel Nook. BN imports its bagels from Melbourne, apparently the capital of all things Jewish in Oz, and even has sesame bagels on offer, in addition to what seems like five kinds of onion bagels (feh!). Unfortunately, BN is closed on weekends so my shopping trips there are limited to those days when I'm passing through the CBD on my way home from a meeting with my research supervisors.

It's summer and it's been a cool and wet one. When we arrived two years ago, Queensland was under rather severe water restrictions and building a desalination plant to cope with the drought that had been going on for something like 8 years at that point. The reservoirs were at about 15% of capacity. Surely it's mere coincidence but since we've been here it's rained so much that the reservoirs have been back to 100% for months now and communities that had all but dried up, literally, are now awash, again literally. Farmers just can't catch a break; they were anticipating their best harvest in years but were knocked back this time by too much rain rather than too little.

After a wet winter, spring reports had it that the desert areas to the west of us were blooming like they hadn't in years. Spring was often rainy and cool and, unusually, it wasn't until late November that I could wear shorts and go barefoot all day. And now it's summer, when we should be in the pool every day, but with what seems like near-constant rain and overcast skies between the deluges, swimming in an unheated pool just isn't that attractive an idea. I wouldn't wish for a return to the drought conditions, just some sun and blue skies once in a while. But before you think I'm complaining about the weather here, let me just say that I have no idea where we could live in the US that would give us the same weather benefits (no snow and ice) and yet be affordable and in a place we would actually want to live.

Then there's politics...oy. That'll be for another post.

Guarding the pool

I noticed this fellow in his, or perhaps her, very impressive web the other day while sweeping the pool deck. I hope he, or she, is catching a lot of mosquitoes out there.

The Aussie alphabet: H is for Holden

Holden, the iconic Australian vehicle. It's GM, Australian-style, Down Under's Chevy. It comes in a range of models from the tiny and cute to the sedate sedan to the SUV (of which there are many, many). But we can't talk Holden without talking ute, Ozspeak for utility vehicle, which I understand is every teenage boy's dream car. Remember the El Camino, which was a car in the front half and a pickup truck in the rear half? It's alive and very, very well here in Oz. From its beginnings as a real utility vehicle, it's been pimped to offer all the goodies a CUB* could want in a "lifestyle vehicle." Here are a classic EH station wagon from the 60s, along with a contemporary Commodore sedan and a ute.

Once I walked past an EH sedan of similar vintage to the one pictured here parked on the street and noticed the name badge across the boot ( = "trunk") had been modified from HOLDEN EH to read OLD EH. I thought the owner meant "old, eh?" until someone told me the model name was EH. Either way it's good.
*CUB: cashed-up bogan

DOBIES!!

Oh frabjous day, one less thing I have to import from the US. Today I found Dobie sponges in the supermarket. I might add I have changed supermarkets recently. I had been going to Woolworth's (same name, different mission here) because it was close, but decided after a couple of visits that I like the Coles a bit further up the road better. And today (Tuesday being shopping day as it is also Food Connect box day, I pick up my box and then know what I need to augment the box with) I was looking for steel wool when...there they were. They're bigger than US Dobies and don't use the Dobie name, just "Scotch-Brite" but they are the real thing. Much better than regular sponges because of the outer layer of scrubby (but not scratchy) stuff...Reader, I bought 3.

The Aussie alphabet: F is for ferry; footy

So, ferries. Certainly not uniquely Australian. But yesterday, on the road back from Toowoomba, we got off the motorway and took the scenic route, Moggill Rd, from its western origin. What we didn't know was that the road ends at the river, yes, ends; and in order to get to the other side of the river, the cars drive onto a funny little ferry. Here's a link to the map showing how the road just ends on either side of the river. The ferry is pulled across the river by a cable, see top photo, and once it's across the cars drive off and continue on their way. This arrangement is on a major commute route. The traffic backups during peak hours don't even bear thinking about.

But, footy! THAT'S Australian. Now, footy could be any one of four games played here: rugby league, rugby union, soccer, or Australian Rules Football. But usually it refers to Aussie Rules. Now that I've lived here for nearly two years, here is what I know about these games:

1) Soccer is called soccer, just like in the US. It may be the beautiful game elsewhere, but here, of the four it's probably the least popular.
2) Rugby scores often don't get out of the teens, whereas footy scores can approach 100.
3) If there are four upright poles in each end zone it's footy; if the goalposts are H-shaped, it's rugby.
4) A lot of footy teams are based in and around Melbourne, the spiritual home of Aussie Rules.

The nuances of league vs. union are beyond me, and none of them look like American football, mainly because there are no timeouts between plays, no pads, no helmets, and the ball is a bit rounder without the pointy ends.

I took the photo above at an actual footy game - yes, I have been to one, thanks to Brian - about a year ago.

Study for "What's wrong with Australia"

I took this photo first yesterday, shooting (as you shouldn't) into the sun. I have no idea how the distortion happened but it's kind of artsy so I'm posting it. You can still see the Liquorland sign and the golden arches on the far right.

Pink poinsettias

You've seen red ones, you've maybe seen white ones, have you seen pink ones?

What's wrong with Australia

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to like here in Oz. But this one photo really says it all about what's not to like. Too much fast "food," too much booze. And this particular branch of Liquorland, which happens to be a couple of km from my house, is one of the many drive-through liquor stores in Oz. Yeah, you read it right. Drive-through liquor stores.

Adelaide

Capital of SA, 5th largest city in Oz. Last Sunday morning - very windy, but still sunny and dry, and pleasant for walking along the Torrens River that runs through the city.

Barossa Valley

Last weekend we ventured forth to the Barossa Valley in South Australia, my first trip to SA. The Barossa is known for its shiraz wines. The valley has a lot in common with California vineyard regions. The hills aren't as high, but the parched late-summer fields dotted with bushes and trees in contrasting deep green are very reminiscent of Phil's mom's Santa Ynez Valley. We stayed in a holiday home with 2 other couples (friends, and friends of the friends). On Saturday we visited Angaston, the home of yummy dried fruit and English influenced, in contrast to other areas of the valley which were settled by Germans. Lunch was at Maggie Beer's Farmshop, a mecca for foodies, in Nuriootpa. Last stop was Rockford Wines, in Tanunda. A gorgeous, warm, sunny, dry day.

The Aussie Alphabet: D is for Diminutive

You don't need to be in Oz for more than 15 minutes before you realize (realise) that no energy is to be wasted pronouncing unnecessary syllables. While "bottle-o" might be recognizable (recognisable) as Ozspeak for "bottle shop" (which is itself Ozspeak for "liquor store"), you might wonder at "rego" (pronounced with soft g) -- this refers to car license plates and comes from "registration," at 4 syllables clearly way too long a word. You might get "muso" (musician) but would you get "arvo" (afternoon) or "cozzie" (costume, Ozspeak for swimsuit)? Do you fancy "brekky at Macca's" (breakfast at McDonald's)? I live in "Brissie" (Brisbane) where I often need my "sunnies" (sunglasses) and I go grocery shopping at "Woolies" (Woolworths). "Lippie" (lipstick), "bikky" (biscuit, = cookie [must look up etymology of that!]), "bikie" (motorcycle gang member) -- sometimes we talk like we're all still in "kindy" (kindergarten) here.

C is for ... Crocodile; Coffee; College

Once again, I couldn't decide which of the C words should go into this Aussie alphabet so I put all 3 in.

Crocodiles

Fab facts for all ages about crocs: http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/crocs_oz.htm

Coffee

This post pretty much explains the history of coffee in Oz and why it is a national obsession. http://coffeegeek.com/opinions/georgesabados/06-12-2007

and this gives a sense of the intensity of the love affair --
http://www.coffeesnobs.com.au/




College

"College" here has a few meanings. In general though, what it doesn't mean is an institution that offers bachelor's degrees and some graduate degrees. For that you have to go to university -- of course, it's called "uni" because this is Australia and no energy is wasted on unnecessary syllables. So "college" can be:

1. a branch of TAFE (Technical and Further Education), which is roughly equivalent to a US community college, where you can study things like watchmaking, beauty, meat retailing, ASL (Australian Sign Language), and practical nursing. However, these are usually called "TAFEs" and not "colleges."

2. a secondary school, generally private, corresponding to US grades 7-12. This makes it very confusing until you get used to "college" meaning something very like "high school." Many are at least nominally affiliated with a church, some have boarding options, Latin mottos, and so far they all seem to have uniforms. Most of the time when I have heard people talking about "college" they've been talking about this kind of place.

A few post-secondary colleges are specialized, for example art colleges, and can grant bachelor's degrees, but most give certificates. Sometimes the credits earned can be applied to advanced standing in a university. TAFEs and their ilk are supposed to be a way of getting into university for those who didn't do so well in high school, a similarity to US community college.

The POOL is open!

Yep, about a month ago we had the official handover from the pool company to us. Note: It's less work than a boat, but still work. The good thing is that you can do the pool chores and then get right in and cool off. The weather has got much warmer since the handover, and the cold water feels awfully good on hot days. After initially declining a solar pool heater, we're now considering it to extend swimming season.

A visitor

This very attractive chook wandered over from an adjoining property this morning.

Moreton Island

A big ol' sand island about an hour-and-a-half ferry ride from Bris, where we went to celebrate my birthday. You have to have a 4WD vehicle to get anywhere you can't walk to, because the roads are just big sand tracks. We stayed overnight at the resort near the ferry landing (no dock, the ferry just drives right up onto the beach!). Don't really need to do that again; expensive, bad food, screaming kids everywhere. The island has this GIANT sand pit in the middle of it. People use sand toboggans to slide down the sides of the pit. They go pretty fast, it's pretty steep, but then they have to walk all the way back up again because at this sand pit there's no chairlift! Next time we'll do a day trip, bring food in the cooler and our snorkel gear, and snorkel around a wreck right by the ferry landing. This is me at the sand pit. Just above my head, you can see a tiny little dark spot. That is a person. Gives you an idea of the size of the pit.