Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! We miss you all.

Here's a quick rundown of our first Aussie Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we left tea, tim tams and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.


We woke up to pressies under our tree (actually a potted bush that Vic borrowed from work and Gus decorated using his crafty talents...the plant had been kept outside so when Vic brought it home a bunch of ants marched out of the pot, which we've been battling ever since. Later on, a lizard crawled out of the pot. Vic and Gus wanted to keep it as a pet so it could eat the ants, but I made them catch it and put it outside).


We had a yummy brekkie of pancakes and real maple syrup (mmmmmm) with nonna and grand-papa.



And after testing out all our toys, we headed down to the beach. It was a little on the cloudy side, but we couldn't resist a swim on Christmas day. Sure enough, in true aussie style, there were lots of other people at the beach having family bbqs, swimming and playing by the beach.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Countdown to Christmas: 7, 6, 5, 4...

Wow! I can't believe Christmas is less than a week away. I still haven't done a lick of shopping, decorating or planning. I think it's partly to do with the sunny, warm weather and partly because I'm having a hard time with the fact that we're going to spend Christmas so far from our friends and most of our family. Thank god my parents are here! They've already been a great help, by looking after Gus after school, often making us supper and scoping out the deals (as retirees, they have become masters at scoping out deals). And, it's so nice to be able to share the holidays with them.

This weekend, I dragged them out to Manly, which I've been wanting to check out for a while. Although it was disappointingly tourist-y, the ferry ride there was nice, and I'd like to go back soon with a picnic and spend the day at the ocean beach. While we were there this weekend, there was a band playing Christmas carols, but Gus was much more interested in the fountains.


Afterwards, we headed down to the beach on the Bay side of Manly, where Gus met some new friends and together they worked on 'waterfall city'.



OK, so Australia is defnitely making me fat. It could be a number of things...my daily intake of timtams with tea that has become a nightly ritual when Gus is in bed and the apartment is quiet, or the full-fat cappuccinos (no skinny caps for me) that I pick up from the cute boys working at the coffee cart at school, or maybe the mountains of pancakes we've been consuming since my parents got here with maple syrup. I think some New Year's resolutions are in order...which I'll sort out when Christmas is over.

I've also managed to convince myself that I need the perfect agenda to get me organized in the new year. I just ordered one like this from Etsy (I can't show you the exact one, because I picked up the LAST one - it was that good). I love the idea of supporting an artist rather than a huge manufacturer. And, I'm sure this agenda will be the key to my success in 2009!

Price of Admission

Hey all you Canadians back home, if you want to come visit, this is what you'll need to bring:

(oh yeah, and you'll also have to spend $2000 on a plane ticket and spend 20 hrs on various planes to get here).

Mmmmm, maple syrup. We've had a hard time finding it in Sydney, and when we have been able to spot a bottle, we've had to spend big bucks to buy it. But my parents have come to visit, and they brought with them seven cans of the sweet stuff (some of it bought by my sister-in-law - thank you!!!). We had pancakes yesterday with REAL maple syrup, they were amazing.

My mom is a big foodie, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to check out some of Sydney's markets. Saturday, we tried out the markets at Moore park. I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but the lemons are gigantic, like grapefruit.


...and lots of beautiful flowers, which would look perfect going home in one of these bags, which I've decided I must buy as the perfect accessory for our Australian adventure. Good for the beach and market outings.

We found some delicious cheese, sausages and olive bread, and Gus managed to talk Vic into buying him one of these cupcakes.


Sunday, I played tour guide and we toured some of the more famous sights in Sydney. We started at Hyde Park, made our way through the Royal Botanic Gardens to check out the beautiful plants, trees and flying foxes (can you spot them below hanging from the trees?) and finished up at the Opera House..


Christmas is less than two weeks away, and yet we have no Christmas tree and haven't done a lick of shopping. It's so hard to believe that Christmas is coming when it's warm and sunny and no snow in sight. I'm still trying to figure out what we're going to eat (cause we won't be cooking a turkey in 30C heat!). But maybe we'll head down to the beach for a bbq, which a few sydney natives have told me is traditional on Christmas day. Gus, on the other hand, is fully prepared, he's decided we'll have pancakes for breakfast and tacos for supper.

Legend of Bluey

Yesterday, we went to Clovelly Beach, a small lagoon-ish type beach about a 10 minute drive from here. Vic scouted it out last week while Gus and I were at the Christmas parade, and declared it a good beach to try out some snorkeling. So this weekend, all three of us drove up to try it out.

Clovelly is my favourite beach yet (this will be my fourth Sydney beach visited). Although it's surrounded on two sides by a lot of concrete, the best part is that there's no huge waves or big rips to worry about (which is a nice change from Maroubra beach, where we usually hang out). And, the snorkeling was great, I even saw legendary Bluey. Vic still doesn't believe me, and I guess it didn't help that I came out of the water saying "I saw a fish this big" - with my arms wide open....but no word of a lie, I saw him on the ocean floor in all his blue hugeness.

Our other big news is that my parents are coming this week! I can't wait, I miss them a lot and it's going to be soooo nice to see some familiar faces.

Below is a pic of Gus getting ready for a snorkel. And yes, I am trying to include a middle-aged man in a speedo in the background of all my beach shots. Clovelly beach had a larger than usual number of men and women in the 50+ age range sporting budgie smugglers and bikinis, and there's something nice about seeing people so at ease with their bodies, they don't feel the need to cover them up completely, a sight not often seen in Canada.

Is there such thing as too many Tim Tams?

According to how tight the waists on my shorts are getting, the answer is yes. ....must give up tims tams....starting tomorrow.

Christmas countdown 10, 9, 8...

It's been rainy and cloudy for the past couple of weeks, but we finally had a nice sunny day today (Sunday). What a perfect day to unwind after a long week! We started off with brekkie at a place down the street from us. Sydneysiders love their brekkie, and so do I. Is there anything better than bacon, eggs and coffee made by someone else and served to you?

Vic's big breakfast:

Then Gus and I grabbed a bus down to the CBD (Central Business District - or what us Canadians would call downtown) to catch the Christmas parade. It started off like your typical Christmas parade, with a reindeer and some marching bands, but got stranger and stranger as it went on. There seemed to be no particular Christmas/holiday theme to it, check it out:

Starts off with a reindeer...nothing odd there.

But then, Star Wars characters came marching down the street...


Followed by an inflatable whale and panda...

...and some people in crazy big-headed costumes (I think they were promoting the Philipines)

Even Gus seemed a little puzzled!


It was especially odd to be watching a Christmas parade on a warm, sunny day. At one point, a guy came by with a big tub of sunscreen, squeezing out a dollop for anyone who wanted/needed it. Surreal, especially when compared to our last Christmas parade in Ottawa, where I distinctly remember wishing that I had worn my longjohns!

When we got back from the parade, we met up with Vic and went down to the beach for a swim. Gus and Vic played in the waves and when they were done we headed to the ocean pool up the street so I could try out my new snorkeling gear (a recent b-day present). Once I got the hang of it (i.e., stopped swallowing water), it was pretty cool. I can't wait to try it out in some of the better snorkeling beaches close by.

Bringing home the bacon

Vic's been out sailing a couple of times since we did the harbour sail a few weeks ago. He helps out on any of the boats that need extra crew at the Friday nights' Twilight sailing races. This past Friday, they held a raffle afterwards and Vic won first prize.....a huge meat tray, with eggs, bacon, sausage, steak, pork chops and a leg of lamb.



If you know Vic at all, you'll know that this is one of the best prizes ever. A tray full of meat is right up there with winning millions in the lottery. It's the equivalent of me winning a tray filled with chocolates and puppies.

Aside from eating meat all weekend (eggs and bacon for breakfast, sausages for supper last night and lamb cooking in the oven as I write), it's been a quiet weekend. Yesterday, I dragged Vic and Gus out to an event called 'Good Food Affare'. Vic and Gus were mostly miserable the whole time (the traffic was horrendous and the 'children's area' consisted of a carousel for toddlers). It was also really crowded, with a ton of people trying to get at the free samples of yummy foods and wines. I did manage to eat some delicious all natural ice cream and bring home a baguette and award winning goat's cheese before either Vic or Gus suffered total breakdowns, so it wasn't all bad.

During the weekdays, I'm still plugging away at my thesis. At this point, I have a pretty clear idea of what I'm going to do, and just need to clarify some of the methods/analysis. If anyone has any good references for trend analysis or cost analysis, send them my way! Some weeks I'm very productive and others - not as much. It's sometimes hard to stay on task when the due date is three years down the road!

And for grandparents' and cousins' viewing pleasure...two pics of Gus at the skatepark, practising his dude moves. sweet as, bro.

A day at the zoo

No, I'm not talking about my life with Vic and Gus, I'm talking about how I spent my Saturday. I was looking forward to a day at Manly Beach, which I've heard is beautiful, with lots of cafes and shops to break up the swimming, boarding and sunning. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. The day started out rainy and cold, with a high expected of only 21C. Gus suggested a day at the zoo, and off we went.

Taronga zoo is on the north shore of Sydney, so to increase the adventure-factor, we took the bus to Circular Quay, then the ferry to the zoo. Here's a glimpse of creepy Luna Park we spotted from the ferry. I'm not sure if you can see the gigantic face that gives it its creepiness, so if not, check out this link: http://www.lunapark.com.au/


Once off the ferry, we took the cable car up to the other end of the zoo.


As far as zoos go, it was pretty good. There was some great scenery behind the animals. Check out the goats below, and the Opera House in the background.



A day at Taronga Zoo is a nice way to spend a cloudy, cool Saturday in Sydney. Today (Sunday), I took my first surfing lesson. I was pretty nervous about it, but determined to give it a go. The release form I had to sign didn't make me feel much better. It started off with statements about how the water might be cold, and the sun might be hot, but then it got into things like: 'You may get caught by a rip and dragged out to sea...and 'You may get bitten by an ocean creature' Aaaaagh! To top it off, everyone else in the class had tried surfing at least once before and the instructor was throwing out the surfer terminology like we should all know what she was talking about. I kept having to interrupt to clarify what she was saying, because I was terrified I would miss some key piece of information and get caught by a rip and dragged out to sea. It was really hard work, but I managed to stand on the board at least twice (after many, many, many attempts).

I got me some wheels

It's Sunday and we spent the day at the beach. We've got a bit of a routine going now. Gus and Vic go in first and Vic helps Gus catch some waves on his body board. If you look closely at the picture below, you'll spot Vic in the red board shorts and Gus ahead of him zooming to shore on his board.


When Gus gets tired and cold, he'll come on shore and warm up on a towel beside me and we'll talk about the gnarly waves, while Vic goes back in with his own body board to catch some waves on his own (that's him below with the green board and red board shorts). After our usual routine, we caught up with some new friends and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and chatting. Sometimes I have to pinch myself that we get to spend the day at the ocean and we're not even on vacation... we LIVE here!!

This week I finally bought myself a bike. I had originally hoped to pick up a used bike, but there is not one used bike store in Sydney. So, it's taken me a while to come to grips with the fact that I'm going to have to lay down way more money than I had hoped for a bike. It was well worth it. I am in love with my bike. I may end up divorcing Vic and marrying my bike. It has a great big basket on the back for all the books and papers I drag back and forth and the best part is no more waiting around at a bus stop checking the time on my cell phone every minute because I'm worried the bus is going to be late, which will make me late to pick up Gus from school. Navigating roundabouts (of which there are exactly 3 on my way to school) are a little tricky on a bike, but I'm sure I'll figure it out soon. If there are any bike afficionados out there with some tips, send them to me!

Halloween in Sydney

On Halloween, Gus told us that some of his classmates said they were going trick-or-treating. After supper, we went to check it out. On our street, we found a condo complex where there was a group of kids dressed up and knocking on doors. So we ran home, Gus threw on his costume and we went back out. Although the tradition of trick-or-treating is slowly catching on in Sydney, they still haven't figured out the system of putting out a jack-o-lantern to signal if you're giving out candies. Luckily, the next block over, we caught up with a few kids who were ahead of us and who were bravely knocking on every door and would then point out to us which house was giving out candies (not that many!). If you look at the little pile Gus collected, you'll notice a couple of chocolate santas!! This poor man probably searched through his cupboards for something to give Gus, and came up with some Christmas candy from last year. One woman gave him some unwrapped gummi worms she pulled out of her purse (what??).

The next day, we went to a kids' Halloween party given by the American Society (an expat association). Gus picked up more candy, did some arts and crafts and played a few games. Below is a picture of him eating a cookie he decorated at one of the tables.



Today is 'Try Sailing Day' in New South Wales. So we went out to Rushcutter's Bay and did a little sail of the harbour. Vic said Nicole and Keith have a house nearby but we didn't spot them out today. It was a little cloudy and not too hot. The sailboat was a Clansman, a 30-footer (that info is for you Dad!). Ross and Chris, the men who took us out, said the weather and wind were perfect for sailing. We got some great views of the opera house and the harbour bridge and Vic and Gus enjoyed playing crew on the boat. Success!

Obsessed with the Ministry

Australian TV is no better than Canadian TV. We don't have cable, so we get 5 channels, which mainly consist of mediocre American tv shows mixed in with reality Australian tv (like Bondi Rescue about lifeguards at Bondi beach saving children and hot chicks and Border Security about border guards keeping illegal immigrants, foods and animals out of Australia). But the one show I do enjoy is Jaime Oliver's The Ministry of Food. Just in case you haven't seen it, it's about Jaime's efforts to make the city of Rotherham cook and eat better. The way he's trying to do this is by teaching a small group of 8 people to cook different recipes, then get them to teach the recipes to two people each, then ask those people to teach two people each, and so on. So, for the first few episodes, I would yell at Jaime: It's not going to work Jaime, think of something else. Think about it, the whole town is not going to be all socially networked together (this is a byproduct of doing my thesis on chain referral sampling). I'm a little obsessed with the show. This week is the final show, and I just don't think he's going to pull it off. But, in the spirit of 'pass it on', Vic made this recipe the other day, and it was quick, easy and delish. Try it.

For some reason, it's felt like a long week, followed by a very short weekend! On Saturday, we did what we always do: I wake up early, bring the laundry to the laundromat (no we don't have a washing machine yet), pick up the Sydney Morning Herald and some croissants for Gus and I and sausage roll for Vic from the pies and cakes shop. yummmm.

With a strawberry perched on top, Gus thinks the croissant looks like the sphinx.


Gus and Vic tried out their new body boards at the beach, but the waves were right out of a surfing movie, huge! We watched Elf last night and ate moroccan chicken flavoured chips (all the chips here are flavoured after meals rather than condiments). Pretty crazy to be watching a Christmas movie in October, but I guess with no thanksgiving or halloween to stand in the way, they start thinking about Christmas early. And, we went to pick up a Halloween costume for Gus, which was not easy. There seems to be a weak attempt to celebrate Halloween, but there's a bit of a backlash because the Australians regard it as an American holiday. Check out some of these mean responses about whether Australians go trick or treating. After much web searching for some way to celebrate halloween in Sydney, the only thing we found was a Children's Halloween Party being hosted by the American Society. The Canadian club on the other hand is having a Halloween pub crawl, which sounds better but probably not suitable for Gus!

For some reason, in a moment of boredom, Vic showed Gus youtube videos of how you can launch a rocket from a bottle of coke and mentos, so tonight they tried it out.

After much preparation...

...the explosion was pretty disappointing. But, Vic and Gus decided they will re-group and try again another time, next time with a bigger bottle of coke and more mentos. Oh it makes a mother proud, aim high boys! aim high.


C'est tout for this week. bye-bye

A week of firsts

This past week, I swam in the ocean for the first time in Australia (brrrr), drove for the first time (Vic put it well when he said driving on the left side of the street goes against every fibre of your being!), and Gus and I started swimming lessons. They take their swimming seriously here. In Gus' first class, he started right into learning the front crawl. This is after many Canadian swimming lessons in which they played games, blew bubbles under the water and did a lot of jumping into the water (?!?).

I feel as though we're finally starting to settle in. Vic found a job as a 'construction all-arounder' with a landscaping company. He's liking the work and the people he's working for. And I've finally banged out a draft thesis proposal, so next steps are getting it approved and then starting the actual research. I can't wait! Since we've gotten here, Gus has had good days and bad. You know it's a bad day when he rants about how Canada is much better than Australia. These rants are getting fewer, which is a good sign.

Yesterday we had the most perfect day. We went to see the Sculptures by the Sea. We started at Bondi and did the coastal walk to Tamarama. When we got to Tamarama, we stopped for a swim and lunch before turning around and making the walk back to Bondi. The sculptures were beautiful, some were whimsical, and all were impressive next to the natural beauty of the ocean. To make it even more amazing, on the way back, a whale and a group of dolphins were hanging out in the ocean right in between these two beaches. As if they knew there was a huge crowd watching them, the whale was flipping around and the dolphins were jumping out of the water! Below are some pictures of some of the sculptures. The pictures don't do them justice and I ran out of batteries and missed some of my favorites. But, it'll give you a taste. If you'd like to see more, go see Gus' faves.

I want to be Elizabeth Pisani when I grow up

I'm reading 'The Wisdom of Whores' right now, by Elizabeth Pisani. It's quite good. She's an epidemiologist who spent some time doing behavioural HIV surveillance in Indonesia. (Mom and Dad: if you want to know what I do, read the book). It makes me want to live in an Asian country and work with the sex workers to battle HIV. Of course I also wanted to sell pot when I was watching 'Weeds', but I think this might be a more realistic and satisfying goal.

We had a good week. It was the first week of Gus' spring break and so I signed him up for a few days of day care and took a couple of days off. On our days together, we went to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua and checked out the Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbour. We really enjoyed the aquarium. They had one section where you walk through glass tunnels underneath a tank of sharks and sting rays....very cool. Darling Harbour was alot of fun too. It was another sweltering day (30+C), and all the kids were stripped down to their underwear and playing in the fountains. Yesterday (Saturday), we all went for a drive to the Koala Park Sanctuary to pet the koalas and feed the kangaroos. Gus declared koalas to be the cutest animals on earth. Check out the pics and see if you agree.

I'm back!

Well, we moved into our new place, waited a while to get our phone line installed, then waited some more to get our ADSL installed. We were finally connected to the internet last week after a long absence. It was hell without the internet at home!

A lot has happened over the past month. In a nutshell, the place we were originally going to rent fell through, and we found a new place, quick. We moved into a 2-bdrm apartment a few blocks from the beach and very close to Gus' new school. Gus started school and is enjoying it. Gus had his 7th birthday and we had a little party for him at the beach. Vic started a new job with a contractor who does residential building. But, the guy is a jerk so Vic is still looking around for something new. Our most recent big news is that this weekend Vic got us some wheels (a mitsubishi magna wagon).

I'm plugging away at my thesis proposal, and it goes in fits and spurts. It's been a harder transition than I thought. I went from working in the govt where I was kept busy with e-mails, meetings and a lot of other non-epidemiology related tasks. Now, I spend my days reading, thinking and writing, trying to meet my own self-imposed deadlines. Some days, I feel so lucky to have such an amazing 'job'. And, other days, I feel completely lost, craving the structure that I used to have in my old life in Ottawa.

Today, we checked out the 'Powerhouse Museum'. Gus has been missing all the old museums we used to go to in Ottawa, and we thought this might be a good replacement for the Science and Tech museum. Unfortunately, except for an appearance from R2D2 and a storm trooper, it was not a hit. It was a little on the boring side and not very interactive. We spent just a couple of hours there, then went to Paddy's Markets - an indoor market where you can get anything, cheap, from electronics, fruits and veggies to t-shirts, sunglasses and purses.

It's 29C today, so Vic and Gus have now gone to the beach for a quick dip to cool off. Here's some pics of our day:

Vic and Gus are Here!!!

Yay! Vic and Gus made it to Sydney safe and sound and really, really tired! The first day here, I showed Gus the wonder of Tim Tams, he tried out vegemite (thought it was salty but not too bad) and we walked down to the beach. By 5:30pm, Gus was out cold, we could barely keep him awake to get some pjs on and get a few bites into him. By 7:30pm, Vic was out too.

Today, we visited Gus' new school. Before we got there, Gus was pretty worried about the fact that the school requires uniforms (he thought there might a tie involved), but once he saw them he was happy again. He especially likes the hat, which he's showing off in the pic above.

The Scoop on Tim Tams

OK, so Tim Tams are these rectangle-shaped biscuits (they don't call them cookies here) that are covered in chocolate. Right now, they're my favourite thing about this move to Australia. They're pretty good just on their own, but they're even better when you bite the ends off, then use it like a straw to drink your coffee, then throw it in your mouth before it completely falls apart. mmmmm, like a little slice of heaven right here in Sydney.

Here's a little aussie video to demonstrate the whole thing:

Gus' New School

On Thursday, I visited Gus' new school. I was reassured by what I learned about the school. I think Gus will really enjoy it. It's a small school, with all kinds of special learning activities, like Maori culture classes once a week, Spanish lessons and a Dance/Song/Drama program. I think Gus will especially like the drama program. He's a creative kid with a flair for drama! That's him in a picture my sister took last Christmas (I'm still without a camera, so I stole it from her blog!).

I spent this past week ramping up to full-time studies. I'm trying to focus my research aims and key questions, so I spent a lot of time reading other people's research to find out where the gaps are. It felt positively decadent having the time to read through journal articles!

Today (Saturday), I checked out Paddington Markets. Paddington is a swish suburb of Sydney, sorta like the Glebe in Ottawa but fancier. The Markets were full of tempting, nice things that I had to refrain from, now that I no longer have a cush govt job! Instead, I picked up some Tim Tams on my way home and I'm nibbling on them now. mmmm, tim tams.