Mom and Dad are here. And you know what that means! It means that Dad has discovered and is experimenting with every single different varietal of Australian pastry (Anzac biscuits, Lamington cakes, Timtams, croissants, scones are only the beginning). It means that we carry binoculars everywhere and pause regularly to study the architecture, which is remarkably New Orleansian, and cry out in delight at every bird that flutters by, and stop for photos each time anything looks even remotely foreign, and sometimes just because we haven't stopped for a photo in a while. It means forty minutes or more, per day, of faithfully perusing the bus schedules. It means searching for oysters, opals, slippers to keep Dad's feet warm, prawns, a USB cable to recharge Mom's DS, good Aussie beer, kangaroos, koalas, bats, and toilets in every single establishment. It means that I sleep ten minutes later every day due to sheer exhaustion.
And it means the blog is a little delayed. If you notice, the delay actually started two weeks before they arrived, which is about the time I finished my last term paper, started volunteering at Sydney Children's Hospital, ripped off the big toenail on my left foot while boogieboarding, and began obsessive-compulsively and ritualistically cleaning the apartment due to a combination of toe-induced boredom and parent-induced excitment.
YES, I am keeping a diary of mom and dad's stay.
NO, it is not appropriate to be posted (yet). Give me a few days to clean up the language. Ha.
Just in case I don't get back to you, though, do take note that next Tuesday we are going to Cairns to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
My First Kiwi
On Monday night I met my first Kiwi! His name is Kent and he’s an opera singer with the
Australian Opera, which means…cheap tickets! We’re going to the Opera Saturday night and I am sooo excited. Kent is a cheerful bloke and a bit of a ham. He nearly has an Aussie accent from being here for a while, but he went right ahead and gave us several renditions from his New Zealand roots. Youtube: “Beached As” for an idea.
These last two weeks have been crazy. I had eight or nine friends over for my birthday party, just after the last blog entry. Preparation took two whole days; first I cleaned RED DUST off every single flat surface in my house, then I assembled beef chipolata sausages with honey mustard sauce, vegetable sticks, chips and spinach dip, brownies, and the piece d’resistance, a wheel of melted Brie with rosemary, lemon, and garlic.
Hit the beach Wed and Thursday, enjoying lovely warm sunshine, and Thursday night got a call from one of the Melbourne Fulbrighters. His other accommodations fell through, and so I had two more Americans sleeping in my living room for the weekend! On Friday they dropped their stuff off and went out, while I worked like a madwoman to finish one of my term papers, just in time to join them for dinner. It rained constantly while they were here. We had a wet bar night and some good pizza in King’s Cross, which is infamous for its red light district; explored Circular Quay and the city from under umbrellas; and on Saturday night, flaunted the start of daylight savings time by dancing at the Coogee beach bar until four in the morning.
Phew! I plan to relax a little more this week, especially since the weather is pretty chilly, not good for beaching. Did I mention that “Bondi Rescue” is my new favorite show ever? Chiseled and suntanned men (and one lady, good for her) saving lives and instructing the tourists (most of whom don’t speak English) how to avoid rips, sharks, overenthusiastic surfers, rocks and the thousand other ways there are to die on Bondi Beach.
Australian Opera, which means…cheap tickets! We’re going to the Opera Saturday night and I am sooo excited. Kent is a cheerful bloke and a bit of a ham. He nearly has an Aussie accent from being here for a while, but he went right ahead and gave us several renditions from his New Zealand roots. Youtube: “Beached As” for an idea.
These last two weeks have been crazy. I had eight or nine friends over for my birthday party, just after the last blog entry. Preparation took two whole days; first I cleaned RED DUST off every single flat surface in my house, then I assembled beef chipolata sausages with honey mustard sauce, vegetable sticks, chips and spinach dip, brownies, and the piece d’resistance, a wheel of melted Brie with rosemary, lemon, and garlic.
Hit the beach Wed and Thursday, enjoying lovely warm sunshine, and Thursday night got a call from one of the Melbourne Fulbrighters. His other accommodations fell through, and so I had two more Americans sleeping in my living room for the weekend! On Friday they dropped their stuff off and went out, while I worked like a madwoman to finish one of my term papers, just in time to join them for dinner. It rained constantly while they were here. We had a wet bar night and some good pizza in King’s Cross, which is infamous for its red light district; explored Circular Quay and the city from under umbrellas; and on Saturday night, flaunted the start of daylight savings time by dancing at the Coogee beach bar until four in the morning.
Phew! I plan to relax a little more this week, especially since the weather is pretty chilly, not good for beaching. Did I mention that “Bondi Rescue” is my new favorite show ever? Chiseled and suntanned men (and one lady, good for her) saving lives and instructing the tourists (most of whom don’t speak English) how to avoid rips, sharks, overenthusiastic surfers, rocks and the thousand other ways there are to die on Bondi Beach.
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