My First Week

Well, today marks one week since I've arrived in Sydney. I think I've recovered from jet-lag, but I still wake up (and get up) around 730am everyday, without an alarm. Those of you that know me, know that this is unprecedented. What's even more weird about it is that Crash gets up even EARLIER — also without an alarm. We'll see how long this lasts.

Yesterday was the first cloudy day here for me — and we even had rain. I was a bit bummed (I'm about to go into my second winter of the year here, and I want as much sun as I can get before it happens), but today is bright and sunny again without a cloud in the sky. If this is how rainy days come and go, then I can handle it. I just dread the overcast days of gloom that we have in Seattle. I want beaches and light breezes, and I'm not leaving till I get my fill.

It's Easter weekend here, and Crash and I agreed that while there's a chance we might "miss" Easter in the States (i.e., "When's Easter?" "I dunno."), there is NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER that you can miss it here. It'd be like missing Memorial Day weekend — you simply know when it is and plan accordingly.

They don't do the Easter Egg hunting thing here — nor do they color eggs (or trick or treat/make jackolanterns, for that matter) — but they do like their chocolate. Chocolate eggs EVERYWHERE. Giant ones. Ones that are shaped like masks (though in this sun, they'd melt). Ones that are shaped like footballs — American footballs, not soccer balls — and weigh about the same, too. So, they do commericalize it a bit, but it doesn't seem to be as much as we do in the states. There's not all the cheap plastic baskets and stuff — mostly chocolate.

It's a big 3 day weekend for everyone as well. School terms ended for a lot of kids yesterday, and we have noticed that today, Good Friday, means that almost everything is closed (even Ikea!). But on Easter Sunday, those same places are open, even if just for a little bit (Odd, eh?). There are lots of festivals going on, including this free circus one down in Darling Harbour that we are going to go check out today:

Hoopla

Speaking of circus and juggling, I went to my first juggling practice this week. On Wednesday we joined up with a group that Crash has practiced with — they rent a space in a church (sound familiar, Mom?) and then juggle away. Everyone chips in a few bucks to help pay, and in return you get a wafer (fancy word for "cookie").

Some people do other things, like hoops and poi. I got to teach a couple of tricks with poi (thanks Q!), which was cool, and got a lot better with my juggling. The hoops went away before I could borrow them, though. I got bored with juggling after awhile, having worked on some timing and overthrows, so Crash is giving me knew juggling tricks to work on. (Thomas, Nick, Kevin: keep practicing; I want people to pass with when I come visit in July!).

Last night we went over to the place where Crash had been staying his first 2 weeks here (he rented a room from a juggler, believe it or not), to celebrate the 13th birthday of the daughter of one of the people living in that house. We don't have much to offer in the way of gifts, but Crash and I got crafty and he compiled a CD of music he likes, and I made a CD case and a birthday card out of our scraps of our Ikea cardboard, twine, and yes, even the old shower curtain that we just replaced. (The card is what you see here on the left.) You can do a lot with a swiss army knife and a glue stick...

I got to meet a variety of characters at the party (I'm speaking just of the adults), from a woman who dresses up as Alice In Wonderland and walks around malls with the Easter Bunny passing out chocolate eggs (and eggs on people that harrass them), to a juggler who just went to Vietnam for 2 weeks and has a strangely likeable haircut that looks like a lawnmower ran over the top of him, to a woman has been supporting herself as an aerialist for the past 8 years is performing at one of the big festivals going on here this weekend:

The Great Escape 2006

Speaking of lawnmowers, I also met another woman whose steady stream of "aussie-isms" is quite entertaining, including the phrase "Don't be mowin' my grass" — which means, "don't step on my turf." And yes, I even heard someone use the term "barbie" last night — as in, "Let's cook some sausages on the barbie." MMMMmmmmm....sausages (I know, I know, it's cruel to eat pigs.)

I've received a lot of emails from people (and comments too) from all of you about this blog, and even a few questions — the most popular one being the question, "Which way do the toilets flush?" It's a good question, and one that is worthy of its own post. Look for it later this week.

I feel like I should sum up my thoughts at the end of this first week of being here, and I suppose the best way to put it is that Australia, for an American, is a beginner's foreign country. They still speak English, but with an accent that makes you cock your head and pay extra special attention. The currency is still the Dollar, but it's prettier and they use a lot of coinage for the smaller denominations. You can walk around town and not stick out like a sore thumb, and things are pretty much the same except Pringles come in exotic flavors ("flavours") like Chicken. Phone numbers have 8 digits (6 if they are government) and cell phones are called mobiles and are more expensive to call (even from a land line) than non-cell numbers. If you live at 304 Station St, Apartment #2, then your address is written as 2/304 Station St.

So, things are JUST different enough to remind me that I'm not in Kansas anymore. And that's what makes it fun.