I think I see rain

It's been the driest November since 1914, but I think I see some drops on the veranda now.


Yesterday, we awoke to find a pile of bug wings just inside our door, a few dead bugs a bit further in, and a renegade live one on the Love Sac. This lead to a full day of vacuuming, mopping and scrubbing every corner of the apartment. No bugs lurking anywhere, although I did find a moldy loaf of bread. Then I stepped out onto the veranda and it was covered in the same dead bugs. (I've looked them up on the internet and I can't identify them, but they look like something between a fly and an ant. They look harmless, but we're in Australia so not taking any chances. We're against bug infestation either way.)


So, I sent an email to the landlord to ask if there had been any fumigating in the building because I thought that would explain it. This is his reply:

I noticed the bugs on some of the balconies myself yesterday for the first time.

Sometimes these things happen like this here - On a different breeze these insects fly in their hoards. Thankfully Insect screens are installed. 

Yes, thankfully. You mean if there weren't screens on the doors hoards of insects would fly into the apartment? The pool area was also a site of mass suicide, and there were plenty of them floating in the pool. I'm going to try not to get hung up on the "first time" bit. For now.

It was Middle School Award's Night at the school last night. The 9th graders who opened the evening began by acknowledging the Aborigines as the original owners and custodians of the land on which the school is built. It is quite common to open seminars this way, and an acknowledgment is also often made in the form of a plaque on the building or on a performance program, but it is more poignant coming from a 14-year-old. It was also the first time I have heard the Australian national anthem live, played by the school orchestra. Quite touching. The standard of art, music and dance was outstanding at the award's night, and lots of medallions were handed out for academic, cultural, athletic and service achievements. It is a very big school compared to what we were used to in Norway, and it is on nights like this that you really get a sense of that. Only the kids receiving awards (not mine) or performing (you can guess who) during the ceremony were invited. They couldn't possibly have fit all of the kids in middle school as well as parents in the auditorium. Graduation today takes place during school time, and parents are not invited. Or so I am told by my graduating son. I have the day off, though, so I may just wander by at about the right time and see what happens...

There's a little Christmas party for 6th grade tomorrow, so we are baking pepperkaker. We will also have to buy Advent calendars today. I can't believe it is December first tomorrow! We missed lighting the first Advent candle on Sunday. It didn't even dawn on me that Advent started so soon! I read it in the Norwegian paper the next day. The only other true sign of Christmas so far is the husband's hunt for marzipan, which began yesterday. He is out of luck. So, unless someone wants to pack up some julemarsipan (HINT, HINT) and send it our way, we will be buying yet another nut grinder and making that from scratch as well! I am already having trouble coping with owning yet another rolling pin. Cookie cutters are next.

Happy holiday preparation in colder climes.

Thanksgiving

It doesn't quite seem right roasting the turkey with the air conditioning on. The traditional Thanksgiving vegetables are not in season now (instead of parsnips and pumpkin the shelves are full of nectarines and strawberries). All the same, it's a great tradition. The cashier at Woolies said she wished they had something like Thanksgiving in Australia and went on to explain that Anzac Day is sad and Australia Day is fun, but there's nothing just pleasant and positive like Thanksgiving. I toyed with the idea of doing the turkey on the barbecue (as so many Australians do for Christmas) but was too overwhelmed by the technical debates on cooking sites to attempt it. So, the oven is on and we are all sweating.

I haven't been home to the US for Thanksgiving in 16 years. It was always my favorite holiday, spent all day at my uncle and aunt's house, first with lunch and then with an evening buffet. The time in between was filled with board games, a walk to the park and football in the background. No Christmas present pressure, and no stress for my parents either.

I always miss family and the US most on this day, and I do contemplate what I am grateful for. I am very grateful for having grown up there, gotten a good education and had opportunities like figure skating, high school prom and a driver's licence at 16. I always felt I could do whatever I wanted to do, I grew up competitive and I also grew up with a spirit of volunteerism. I still see these as characteristics of US society. Most of all, I am perhaps grateful that, having grown up in the US, I also had the freedom to leave. I mean this in the best possible way. This separates me from many of my friends, who grew up in countries with no opportunity for movement, either for political reasons or economic ones. Their lives have been so much more difficult than mine.

I am perhaps a bit self-centered because I always thought that since I was an immigrant, and my parents had actually chosen the US instead of just being born there, that out of all of my classmates growing up, I was the one who had the most reason to celebrate Thanksgiving.

So, even though it is 30 degrees outside (Celsius, that it), that turkey will be roasted. And since pumpkin is commonly used as a fresh vegetable here and apparently not sold in cans unless it is a soup, that pumpkin pie has been made from scratch. Really from scratch.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends and family in the US and wherever else you are in the world. I'm thinking of you.

November

It's getting very hot here in Brisbane, and it just doesn't seem right to see the shops stocked with Christmas puddings, mince pies and candy canes. Christmas lights and gigantic balls hang from the outdoor pubs and cafes in the city, but we're sitting around in sundresses and flip-flops instead of wool coats and boots. I have to admit dreaming about snow, but I'm not sick of the heat yet. The pool is coming in very handy now. It went from being ice cold to bath water temperature in the course of two weeks.

We've booked our journey for Christmas, but the paranoid husband does preclude me from revealing the route on a blog. Suffice it to say we will be having Christmas lunch served to us on the beach and there is the remote possibility of seeing us on TV when the New Year hits this part of the world.

It's time for a little introduction to 'Strine (Australian). I assume you are all familiar with G'day, No worries, Cheers and Mate but if you were in doubt I can assure you that these are not just the expressions of Crocodile Dundee and Steve Irwin. You hear these expressions a lot, and I was thrilled to be in on a conference call to the US with my colleague. He opened with, "Oh. G'day. I'm (name protected for same reason as husband, these people are both Linux guys with security issues)...from The University of Queensland" and then much to my great pleasure, closed with "No worries." Not premeditated, I assure you.

Here are some of my favorite new expressions. (You'll have to excuse me (and correct me) if any of these have actually floated into the American language without my realizing it. I've been away for a long time.)

iconic - used to refer to any man-made structure more than 60 years old, especially if Sydney had one first, also used for natural wonders (sometimes justifiably, but you can never be sure).
hot desking - we don't  have enough space in the office for you, but we will hire you anyway. You can just float around to a vacant desk when someone is sick.
flick - get rid of an email (meaning, get rid of work) - as in "I'll just flick that email over to you, and now I've done my bit. It's your problem now."
appropriate - mostly referring to the speech and clothes tolerated at school, a very short list
inappropriate - mostly referring to speech, behaviour and clothes not tolerated at school, a very long list
consequences - what there will be after school if anything inappropriate goes on
luxury fittings - the taps go on and off (sometimes)
stubbie - bottle of beer
schooner - glass of beer
long black - black coffee, no milk, no sugar - you can also have a small long black which just doesn't seem right
short black - espresso - I don't think you can have a large short black
flat white - not sure, but it must have milk in it so I'm not drinking it
we should have coffee - let's not have coffee (unless said by a foreigner, in which case, "let's have coffee right now")
cossie - swimsuit
thongs - flip-flops (can get confusing - my daughter wrote in a poem that she felt happy right down to her thongs)
Mackers - McDonald's (they NEVER call in McDonald's)
Hungry Jack's - Burger King (for some reason the brand name is Hungry Jacks, but I'm pretty sure it's owned by Burger King because the logo is exactly the same. They serve beets on their signature burger.

I must be in a bit of a negative spin here. I can't seem to come up with too many positive expressions. Maybe the frequency of G'day, No worries, Cheers and Mate more than make up for the above, because generally the conversation is very jovial and the Australians very friendly. I'll add to the list as I think of more.