Week 4: Applause

11.9 – 11.15

Week 4

Things worth mentioning in week 4:

Townsends

Spent a couple evenings with the Townsends. On Sunday just to hang out since I hadn’t seen them since that first weekend. Braedon had been finishing up at Uni and is now officially done! So I went over there and we got Crust pizza. And by we got pizza, I mean, we got an abundance of pizza so large that I was uncomfortably full for quite some time. I think in the end we had 5 different large pizzas (burrito, pulled pork, chicken avocado, garlic chicken, smoke salmon) plus 2 garlic breads. We also got something called “Rocky Road Calzones: which are pastries, filled with Rocky Road chocolate. These are both the best and worst thing that has ever happened to the dessert world. On one hand, they were totally delicious, on the other, one could easily put themselves into a sugar induced coma ( is that a thing? I’m making it a thing). We also watched The Hangover Part II which I had never seen.

We also laughed a lot as Neil tried to operate his new “smart camera”. This camera allows you to take self-timer shots while standing in front of it. It reads the motions of your hands, so if you turn your finger one way, it focuses. Another twirl and it zooms in/out. And supposedly, if you clap your hands, it starts the timer to take a photo. Well, you would have thought Lady Gaga was in the house from all of the Applause (Yay pop culture reference!). 45 minutes later, they had 2 pictures. I don’t think it helped that the longer Neil attempted to take pictures, the more drinks he had in his system. I left the house that night with a very sore stomach; perhaps from the laughing, perhaps from the excess amount of carbohydrates, but likely a little bit of both.

I went over there again on Tuesday for Kieran’s Birthday dinner. We ate ribs that had been cooking since I left on Sunday. So needless to say they were very delicious. Daniel’s friend Sarah, from Scotland, was there. She is going to be staying at the house for a short time in December. Anyway, she was super cool and funny. She works with Daniel at the restaurant. Daniel also introduced us to a dessert he made. This thing has about 1000 ingredients, but I, not being a chef, will put it in layman’s terms: Pineapple ice cream with macadamia nut crumble and a spicy jelly thing (see, how layman can you get?). The jelly things were kind of like raisins but they started out a bit sour and the longer you chewed them there would be a spicy kick to it. Quite interesting. But the pineapple ice cream was ah-mazing!

Kimberly, Me, Michelle

ASC

I got to have lunch with the staff at Australia Studies Centre. This is the Best Semester program I was a part of last time I was here. It was excellent to hear about what is going on in their lives and to update them on mine. It is also a lot of fun to be an alumni rather than a student. We talked about the group I was in compared to groups that came before and after. And I learned that apparently Kimberly now uses me  as an example of being open to making friends from all cultures, not just American or Australians. For those who don't know, last time I was here, the two people I spent the most time with were from South Korea. The program is moving from Sydney to Brisbane, so they are in a big transition process. I was very happy that I was able to see them before they make the move up, and now I have an excuse to go visit Brisbane! Although I probably would have anyway.

Pokémon

Harry and I went to the library this week and picked up a couple DVD’s. As eluded to by the title, they were Pokémon DVD’s. Harry has now started on a bit of a Pokémon kick and will sit and watch it for hours if you let him. Because I’m a good nanny, I try to avoid that. One thing that doesn’t get old is singing over the top of the Pokémon theme song. It drives him crazy and that makes me very happy. Perhaps I’m not as good of a nanny as I thought earlier in this paragraph.

Picnics 

Harry and I had talked about perhaps doing a picnic in the park that is across the street. And the day we were finally going to do it, it was raining. So, thinking on my feet, we had an indoor picnic! This really translates to: we ate our lunch on the floor of the living room. But still, it was fun and Harry enjoyed himself. Plus there were significantly less bugs in the living room than at the park.

Week 3: You've Been Hazed

November 2nd-8th

Week 3

How are we in November already? And how have I already been here 3 weeks?

Things are feeling rather normal and I am very settled into the routine of life here. My Mondays-Wednesdays are great because both boys are at school. Which results in a lot of “Me Time” during the day. This usually means, Swim, Tan, Shower, Shopping. Or whatever I feel like. Thursdays and Fridays are a bit more involved as the youngest boy is at home with me. This usually means playground, café, and playing ninja turtles.

Things worth mentioning:

Au Pair initiation/hazing:

I have come to the conclusion that I am unstoppable. This is for several reasons:

1.     I have stepped on a Lego…and didn’t cry. And I know what you’re thinking…No I’m not a witch.

2.     I fearlessly did the “smell-test” on a 4 year-old's underwear that was sitting on the laundry room counter to determine if they were soiled or not. They were. I did not vomit.

3.     Even though I wash them repeatedly, my hands seem to have become infused with the aroma of Vegemite from all of the sandwiches I have been making the boys.

4.     Had a 3 inch cockroach crawl across my foot while in the kitchen. I did not scream.

5.     Found a cockroach in the kitchen a day later (May or may not have been same cockroach from number 4). Calmly placed bowl over it so Mark could take care of it when he got home.

(I’m not particularly proud of number 5, but it’s the best way I know how to cope right now.)

Other things worth Mentioning: 

Connect Group:

Connect Group is what they call 'small groups' at my church. This is a group of people that you meet with on a weekly or fortnightly basis outside of church. This is time to hang out, do a bible study, catch up on each others lives, etc. Anyway, last time I was here, I was in Linh’s connect group, so naturally when I return, I am jumping right back into it. A few of the members are still the same as last time, but there are A LOT of new faces. On Monday night I attended my first Connect Group 2.0. The group has certainly grown a lot since I was here last. The group consists of: Diego, Stephanie, Leonardo, Antone, Linh, Gabriele, Kassio, Sophia, Meli (Whom when first meeting said, ‘My names Meli’ but as she said it she kind of slurred ‘namesmeli’, so I heard ‘my name is smelly’, which of course meant I had to confirm saying “Smelly?” which prompted this room full of people I had just met to laugh at me. First impressions are awesome), Karsten, and Yunita. I think they said that there are more people who just couldn’t make that meeting. Everyone was super nice and welcoming and I’m excited to get to know them more. We meet every other week.

2 is company, 3 is a crowd

Tuesday was the famous Melbourne Cup day here in Australia. Melbourne Cup is, in short, a day of horse races. (Follow the link to learn more.) People go out and party hard. Women wear fancy dresses and silly hats and head-bands. I watched a bit of the races earlier in the day but was more interested in what the women where wearing.

But why does this mean 3 is a crowd? Well, because people party so much, one of the mums at school asked if I could bring her daughter, Poppy, home with Lachie. The biggest race was at 3pm which is exactly when kids need to be picked up. I had no problem doing this. But watching 3 kids was incredibly more involved that watching my 2 boys. Poppy is a sweet girl, but she is, as the locals might say, Full On. So much energy packed into a tiny little girl. I was chasing them around, preventing one disaster after another. Once Mark and Dan got home I politely retreated to my room and closed the door. 

Creative Team Meeting

After connect group on Monday, Gabriele invited me to creative team meeting on Thursday. This is a time where all of the people on the creative times (music, set design, lighting, etc) get together for a service that it specifically for them. Afterwards, they offer several master classes in different categories. So for vocalists, they can go to vocal workshops. I went to a photography one where we talked about different types of lighting and which type is best suited for certain subjects. It was pretty cool and I may go again, depending on what master classes are offered that night.

Week 2: Halloween

October 26^th – November 1^st

Week 2

This week was another good week of getting settled in at my new home.

Top things worth Mentioning:

Saturday in the City:

Saturday, the 26^th, I went into the city and met up with my old friend Charlie. We basically just walked around and caught up on life. We stopped to watch a street performer in Circular Quay who did a few tricks but spent most of the time verbally abusing his audience. I didn’t give him any money. We then walked to the Opera House/Harbour Bridge. Now I feel I am officially back. Now I’ve never seen a show at the opera house, however this time, I did use the toilets. And let me tell you, they are just as architectural as the outside. Everything about it makes you feel like you are going to the bathroom 1000 years from now!

Sinks of the Future

Church:

After Charlie and I had a big day walking around, we went to Church. This is the same church that I went to when I was here last time. I was pretty convinced that people wouldn’t remember me. After all, it was a long time ago, and they meet a lot of people. But upon walking in, Sandra, a German girl I met last time (See my 100th post), looked at me and said “Rachel?! What are you doing here?” It wasn’t the,  “Hey you look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?”  Sort of greeting that I was expecting. She full on remembered me. I was in shock. This girl that I haven’t seen in over a year, and if I’m being honest, didn’t get to know that well, remembered me. After that I ran into Linh, my former connect group leader, who also remembered me. Through-out the night I kept running into people that I knew last time, all of them not only remembering who I was, but excited to see me and have me back for a while.  And of course I got to meet some new people too, like a New Zealander named Tyson and a Malaysian named Shaun, just to name a couple.

Swimming Lessons:

This week was the first week of me being in charge of getting the boys to swimming lessons. Mark had taken me to the location a week ago, but I wanted to practice so I wouldn’t get lost and make the boys late. I’m glad I did. I got a little turned around but was able to figure it out. I went there and back twice. Just to make sure I really had it. Once we were actually at swimming lessons, I had a lot of fun watching the boys with their instructors, learning their strokes. I felt like a proud mama. Especially for Lachie, who is obviously the best in his class. Not that I’m biased or anything.

Halloween:

The boys had been looking forward to Halloween for a while now. However, Halloween isn’t as big of a deal here as it is in America. Some kids will get dressed up and do the whole Trick-or-Treating thing. But not a lot of houses participate in that. We also went a bit early. We met up with some other families from Lachie’s school so the kids could all Trick or Treat together. We walked around, up and down the streets. The kids went a little wild, running ahead and practically breaking down doors to get to the candy. The whole thing felt very different compared to what I used to do at home. I was used to a Halloween where it is super cold and dark and nearly every house on the block had carved pumpkins on the porch and some sort of skeleton or ghost décor. But here, it’s all shorts and flip-flops and you’re lucky to see a cobweb. There were a few houses that got into it, but for the most part it was very minimal. After we walked around for a bit we went back to one of the mom’s (Julia’s) houses where the kids played in the back yard and the adults sat on the back deck drinking wine until it was time to go. Overall it was an exciting time and I’m glad I got to experience Aussie Halloween. 

Vampire and Leonardo the Ninja Turtle

Moms and Swarming Children