Merry Christmas from Down Under!

Balmoral Beach on Christmas Day

Best Christmas Gift: Russell coming from China

Tim, Jane, Me, Russ and Alex 

Quick Update

Hi everyone!

Sorry I have not posted in a few weeks. The past few weeks before the holidays have been so hectic between finishing up projects for clients at work, going to Christmas parties annnnnnd finding an apartment!  The vacancy rate in Sydney is one percent at the moment and my friends and I were looking in one of the trendiest neighborhoods in the city, Surry Hills.  It took us one and half months, but we found a great place right on the border of Darlinghurst and Surry Hills.  The apartment is centrally located and is near great bars and cafes, boutiques, parks, museums and art galleries.  I am so excited to live there! It will be my first adult apartment. I sign the lease Monday and pick up the key. I promise to post pictures as soon as we get it furnished and looking great.

I hope that you all are having a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and Happy New Years! Expect a few new posts early this week and definitely more next year.

Kauri

Sculpture by the Sea

Bondi Beach

A few weeks ago I walked the Tamarama to Bondi walk with some friends and looked at the statues in the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition. The statues were made from every imaginable material.  One of my favorites was a giant sea creature made out of bottle caps. We had a great time taking pictures with many of the sculptures...

Slangictionary (Eighth Installment)

Busy as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking race: (phrase) very busy

Busy as a one-armed wallpaper hanger: (phrase) very busy

As ugly as a hat full of monkeys bums: (phrase) very ugly

Poms: (n.) British people

Avo: (n.) afternoon

Night at the Ballet

On Tuesday night I went to see The Australian Ballet at the Sydney Opera House with a few of my girlfriends.  It was a gorgeous summer night so we all met up at Opera Bar, which is situated next to the Opera House, and got a bottle of wine and a tasting plate.  It was my first time going to a performance in the Opera House and I absolutely loved it. I hope to make somewhat of a habit of it as long as my finances allow it. The inside of the Opera House is beautifully modern and the acoustics and unbelievable.  We were sitting toward the top of the theatre, but I could still hear the touch of the female dancers' point shoes on the stage.

Thanksgiving in the Summer

I am also thankful for cornbread. Next
year I want to try to make this  pumpkin cornbread. 

On Saturday Jane and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for a large group of friends.  They were all excited to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with two Americans. Australians have no comparable holiday outside of Christmas that is all about spending time with family and I think that many of them wish that they did.  Before we ate dinner we all went around and said something we were thankful for. Most of them did not know that that is one of the common traditions and I think they quite liked it.  I said I was thankful to be in Australia with all of them and for my wonderful friends and family back in the states.

Our 5 kilo (11 pound turkey)

Happy Turkey Day!

I hope that you are all having a wonderful day and watching lots of football and eating tons of good ol' American cuisine. I am celebrating Thanksgiving this Saturday and will be sure to post some pictures of my first solo attempts at Thanksgiving cooking.

Also, this made me smile...a pancake shaped like a turkey. This dad makes incredible pancakes for his daughter. It is worth checking out his pancake masterpieces. They are unbelievable!

Movember

The month of November is "Movember" here in Australia. Men grow "mos" (moustaches) and raise money and awareness for prostate cancer and other male health issues.  Sydney is full of men with hilarious mos during this time of the year, everything from full blown handle bar moustaches to puberty baby staches. One of my coworkers is participating in the Movember and has grown a pretty impressive mo.  If any of you are interested in donating to the cause here is a link to the Movember website (http://au.movemberfoundation.com/ and the link to my coworker's donation site http://au.movember.com/mospace/814266/ . My company is going to match the amount he raises up to a certain amount.

Angus & Julia Stone

I have gotten really into Angus & Julia Stone recently. I bought their most recent CD, Down the Way, after reading that they had cleaned up at the ARIA (Australian Record Industry Awards) winning Album of the Year and Single of the Year.  They are brother-sister duo from the North shore of Sydney with a cool indie sound.  They are definitely worth checking out on Pandora or YouTube.

Jacarandas

In late October and into November, jacaranda trees come into bloom all over Sydney.  Their purple flowers offer a striking contrast to the calm greens of the gum trees and palm trees.  I think they are some of the most beautiful trees I have ever seen, but many Aussies have interesting emotions connected to them.  Around this time of the year uni students have to start studying for finals.  Whenever the jacarandas go into bloom it is a sign that their exams are eminent.  Some of my friends have even told me that to have a jacaranda flower fall on you during finals week is a bad omen.  I think that I will always have positive emotions connected to jacarandas, because around the time of them starting to bloom, I figured out employment for the second half of my year here and started looking for apartments. 

Jacaranda outside my window

Melbourne Cup Day

Australians are serious about horse racing. This past Tuesday was the 150^th Annual Melbourne Cup Day.  It is a public holiday in Victoria and might as well be a public holiday in the rest of the county as the entire population of Australia stops whatever they are doing to watch the three minute race at 3:30pm.  Work provided us a special lunch and also gave us cider, beer and wine in the kitchen during the buildup to the race.  At the moment of the race there was barely a car on the road or a boat in the Harbor and there was certainly not a single person from my office working. Everyone was dressed to the nines (by work standards) in fascinators and hats cheering on the horses. It was unlike any other work function I’ve attended.

Even Google got into it on Melbourne Cup Day

This year the favorite to win was a magnificent horse named So You Think.  A week and a half before the Melbourne Cup, I watched him easily win the Cox Plate race (a much shorter race). His trainer Bart Cummings is a legend in Australian horse racing having won 14 Melbourne Cups.  He is 82 and is training two of his rather fetching grandsons to carry on his legacy, but has no plans to retire any time soon.  In an interview; in typical grumpy, wise old man words; he described his relationship with them as “If you spoil a horse you ruin it.” Sadly, So You Think placed, but did not win due to the fact that longer races are not his strongest.

So You Think

Bart Cummings (His eyebrows are legendary too)

I bet on three horses to go either way, meaning to win or place.  I chose So You Think, Americain (because of the name of course) and Harry Tweed.  Americain was the victor (obviously) and So You Think placed and as a result I won $60.  Not too bad for my first time betting more than $10. 

Amercain

Socks & Sundresses

There are a lot of great clothes in Sydney and I love the styles, however, there is one trend that I do not understand...black above the ankle socks with black sneakers and sundresses.  This trend is popular among girls aged 12 to 17.  They spend every weekday in school uniforms and then seem to all wear this weird weekend uniform.  In my opinion, all of these items are fine on their own, but together they look really silly.  I may just be getting old, but this is one trend that I will not follow whilst in Australia. 

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is not very big here, but is starting to get more popular.  I have been asked to explain how the holiday works to a number of Aussies.  Most Australians do not realize that you can dress up in whatever you want on Halloween and do not have to look scary. Most probably have not even seen a carving pumpkin. On Friday I taught a few coworkers how to carve pumpkins. Everyone who passed was fascinated.  No one had even seen the inside of a carving pumpkin before. They all thought that the insides were dense and hard to cut through instead of goopy and orange. We had Halloween themed end of the month drinks and had a trick or treat event for people’s kids.  The kids had a great time and the whole office got really into it.

It was a glorious sunny summer day here (probably the only warm Halloween I will ever have). There was a great breeze for sailing and the coves and inlets were packed with little sailboats. The water was a beautiful clear turquoise color and relatively warm. I almost forgot that it was Halloween until I went for a run around three and kids were already excitedly running around the neighborhood saying trick or treat and wearing fancy dress (costumes).  My neighborhood is rare in the amount of houses that are decorated for Halloween.  People signal that they are participating in the holiday by decorating their doors so kids know where to go. 

Hope you all have wonderful Halloweens!

Slangictionary (Seventh Installment)

Have a squiz: (phrase) take a look
Piker: (n.) someone who is lame (ex. Sorry I was such a piker and left the party early). [It also has a ruder meaning that I can explain later]
Woop Woop: (adj.) far away, the boonies (ex. I parked in woop woop)
Not a six hit: (phrase) Not a homerun
Skull: (v.) chug
Hundreds and thousands: (n.) round sprinkles 
Some dead horse: (n.) ketchup [the more common term is tomato sauce]
CUB: (n.) Cashed Up Bogan (someone trashy with a lot of money)
Flaming mongrel: (n.) idiot
Jab: (n.) shot (as in medical shots)
Dumb skip: (n.) Dumb Australian
Blotto: (adj.) drunk
Pull your head in: (phrase) get yourself together
Snag: (n.) sausage
WOG: (n.) Western Oriented Gentleman (not a good term to be called)
Bush oyster: (phrase) equivalent to "You have a bat in your cave" (aka you have a booger in your nose)
Coat hanger: (n.) Sydney Harbour Bridge

Aussies

Some of you have probably seen these images before, but these are meant to be "quintessential" representations of Aussies.  We have a tea towel (dish towel) of the Aussie gentleman at Jane's house.  His protruding beer-gut makes me smile.  Thought you all might appreciate them. 

Bronte

Last night I went to a Hollywood-themed fancy dress house party with some friends at Bronte in the eastern suburbs.  Bronte is a mid-size beach not too far from Bondi and Clovelly. My friend's mate from high school just moved out this house that is being demolished next week so he and his housemates decided to have a farewell party for the house. It is an crumbling, old building, but the view and proximity to the beach made up for its modest facade.  It was by far the best house party I've ever attended.  They had professional dj equipment, had hired a tent and everyone who came was really nice and ridiculously attired.  One guy had hired a Captain America costume and a number were dressed as fluffy woodland or bush creatures.  What a great Sydney night.

My friend Dom and I with Bronte Beach behind us. She was
dressed as Lindsay Lohan and I tried to go for the classic old
 Hollywood look.  Came out a little blurry unfortunately.

Better view of the beach on a nicer day

Sunrise

Yesterday morning I got my lazy, frugal toches out of bed at 5:30 in the morning and went for a run. Getting up late early is no small feat, but I have been trying to avoid getting a gym membership and paying the exorbitant fees. However, it was totally worth the pain of getting out of bed. I beat the sunrise and was able to snap some great shots of the early stages of the sun rising over Balmoral Beach. As the sun came up over the hills towards the end of my run Regina Specktor's song Field Below came up on my ipod. If my run were a moment in a movie, that would have been a pretty good song choice for the soundtrack.  Hopefully I will be able to be motivated to repeat this morning run often. It was such a great way to start my Friday.

Congregation of gossiping cockatoos that were not happy
that I interrupted their morning chat with a picture.

Sunny Sunday in Sydney

I am a little behind on my posts this week. I had a busy week at work and have been reading The Girl Who Played With Fire in my free time. Such a good book! Anyways, last Saturday I went to a great tapas bar in Bondi called Mojos with some friends. The chorizo was sub-par, but the tortilla espanol, manchego cheese and sangria did not disappoint. I stayed in the city at my friends' apartment in Rushcutter's Bay on Saturday night and spent the day with them on Sunday. We ate breakfast at this quaint cafe called the Rushcutter's Bay Tennis Cafe which is tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Bayswater Road next to the neighborhood tennis courts.  The cafe building is tiny, but it has a whimsical terrace draped in wisteria and other vine plants and tables with chess and checkerboards painted on them so people can play while they wait for their food.

Later in the morning we went shopping in the eastern suburbs in Darlinghurst and Paddington (Paddo as it is called by the locals) because it was a beautiful sunny day, although a little too chilly to be at the beach. Both neighborhoods are really trendy with cool cafes and restaurants and little boutiques with great designs.  Paddington is known for its beautifully renovated terrace homes with intricate ironwork and bright colors.  I did not get a chance to see some of the more famous streets, but here is a taste of what the neighborhood looks like.

White Leather Pointed-Toe Shoes

WARNING to any American man coming to Australia:

Australian women of all ages HATE white leather pointed-toe shoes.  They find them disgusting.  When I was out with some girlfriends on Saturday night we saw a number of foreign men in white leather pointed-toe shoes getting rejected by Australian women. My friends explained that Australian women agree that a guy who wears such detestable footwear is to avoided.  They said that I should be slow to trust any man in possession of these heinous shoes.  I doubt that many American men own white leather pointed-toe shoes outside of Las Vegas or other warm cities, but consider yourselves warned. These shoes really should come with a warning label.

QVB

This stained glass dome is one of the beautiful architectural details of the QVB 

The clock above me is one the famous symbols of the QVB

On Saturday morning Jane and I went shopping in the CBD (Central Business District) of Sydney. We picked up a few items from her tailor, Kim, in Chinatown and ate scrumptious egg tarts from a little Chinese bakery called Helen's Bakery on Dixon Street. On the walk back to the main bus station, Wynyard, we walked through the Queen Victoria Building. This statue of Queen Victoria is placed prominently in front of the QVB and is one of many statues all over Sydney that have recently been dressed up in bright costumes (or fancy dress as they say here) for the Sydney Art & About Festival.  It makes me smile every time I pass one of these normally regal figures in their flashy, period appropriate getups. I wish they were so attired more of the time.

Queen Victoria dressed up outside the QVB (Queen Victoria Building)

I think she has a rather snobby countenance. 

Slangictionary (Sixth Installment)

A kangaroo short in the top paddock: (phrase) “Not the sharpest tool in the shed” or “One sandwich short of a picnic”

Two bobs short of a quid: (phrase) similar to “Not the brightest crayon in the box.”

Graze: (n.) scrape [ex. I have a big graze on my knee]

Uni: (n.) university, college

Muesli: (n.) granola

Shocker: (adj.) busy, crazy, stressful [ex. I had a real shocker of a day at work]

Mobile: (n.) cell phone (They laugh whenever I say cell phone)

Grey nomads: (n.) old people that driver around the country in RVs (They have them here too! Who would have thought)

Buggie smugglers: (n.) speedos or banana hammocks (I wish Tony Abbott, the weird looking head of the Liberal (right-wing) party, would stop parading around in a budgie smuggler and put on some board shorts on occasion) 

Ba-na-na-na Bread

A little known fact and one of my favorite things about Australians is that they LOVE banana bread (which they insist is pronounced "ba-na-na bread" as opposed to "ba-nan-a bread") and they make really good banana bread.  I discovered this fact my first day of work when I witnessed mountains of thick slices of fresh banana bread stacked in every cafe in the morning be diminished to anthills of two to three pieces by lunchtime. Since that first week I have treated myself to one of these slices of buttery heaven most Wednesday mornings (to celebrate the middle of the week) and sometimes on weekend mornings too (just because I can). The cafes toast the pieces to perfection and smother them in enough butter to make Paula Dean happy.

I demolished this gorgeous slice this morning (mmmmm!)

Bathers' Pavilion

A few weeks ago one of our family friends, Uncle Chris, took me to the Bathers' Pavilion in Balmoral. It is a well known and very delicious restaurant that is in the former bathers' changing rooms at Balmoral. It is a gorgeous old building and really adds to the classic scenery of the beach. On the weekends and most mornings the tables by the long windows are packed with people who get there early for the prime people-watching real estate. 

I tried not to be a creep when I took these photos, but I could not
resist capturing the reflection of the sunset in the windows of the restaurant.

Balmoral Beach

I live only 2.5 km (1.6 miles) from Balmoral Beach. It is my favorite beach in Sydney at the moment.  Balmoral is less well known than other beaches so it tends to be a little calmer and more peaceful with fewer tourists and bodybuilders like Bondi or Manly. It has a beautiful boardwalk and quaint cafes and a great fish and chip shop. Jane and her friends drink coffee most mornings at a little cafe called Cafe Balmoral.  The owner is one of the biggest characters I've met down here. This morning he was wearing a shirt with a ribbon on it and a tag that said "To: Women From: God". 

Whenever the weather is nice I run from my house and along the beach. I can't wait for the temperatures to get warm enough for me to spend the day there reading in the sun. 

Slangictionary (Fifth Installment)

Pokies: (n.) Slot machines
Reggo: (n.) Car registration
Slapper: (n.) Loose, easy woman
Gridiron: (n.) Good old American football
Marry Shag Shoot: (game) F***, Chuck, Marry
Mates before dates: (phrase) Bros before hos
Rumpus room: (n.) play room

Grand Finals

This past weekend was Labour Day weekend in Australia and also the AFL (Australian Football League) and NRL (National Rugby League) Grand Finals.  The two sports are completely different and each almost completely contained in one city each.  The majority of the AFL teams are in Victoria in Melbourne and the majority of the NRL teams are in Sydney.

I watched the AFL Grand Final with friends at the Beach Palace Hotel at Coogee Beach. The match was between St. Kilda and Collingwood and was the second Grand Final. The first Grand Final match was played last weekend and resulted in a tie (68-68).  Aussie Rules Football has no tiebreaker, not even in the league finals, so the second final was played this Saturday.  Fans that attended the first Grand Final, including one of my bosses, were outraged that the first one did not result in a victory for either team.  Many have been calling for the rules to be changed, however, it is third time there has been a draw in a final in the 114 years the game has been played. One of my favorite things about the game is that it is played on an oval, though the beautiful, long, lean players in short shorts are definitely my favorite thing. Unfortunately the second final was a blowout with Collingwood winning 108-52.

The main event of the weekend for people in Sydney was the NRL final between the Bondi Roosters and the St. George Dragons.  I watched the game at my first's apartment in Bondi. I followed the playoffs in the news and on tv, so I was really excited to watch my first Grand Final.  My parents actually moved to Australia 25 years ago on the day of the NRL Grand Final, which added to the excitement of the day. Though the NRL has fewer handsome players than the AFL (aside from Matt Cooper and a few others) due to the brutal nature of the game, it a really fun sport to watch.  Out of all of the versions of football; AFL, Union, NRL; the NRL is the closest to gridiron, which made me very happy, but also wishing that I could watch the Patriots play this season.  There is a punt a players run at each other and smash into each other, though they do so without helmets or padding. I will not go beyond that in describing the rules or how the game is played, since I still need to work out the subtleties, but I hope to come back to the U.S. with a fairly good knowledge of the game. But, I can tell you that the St. George Dragons won the match 32-8.