Football!!

We spent Tuesday night watching the Gators play Ohio State for the BCS National Championship. We invited anyone we knew from the project to join us – and had a turn out of several Americans, a couple of Aussies and one girl from Austria. It was quite a good time and Jason talked pretty much everyone into cheering for the Gators! Here’s a picture I took of Jason and Ethan (Golden Gopher fan during the regular season) sitting on the couch with the game in the background! I'm pretty sure that this is the same thing that we'll be doing to watch the superbowl.



Sunday, we got together with about 25 of the people from the project (again, both American and non-American) and played some flag football. I asked one girl from Brazil how she knew of American football and she said that she didn’t – she just runs around a lot and enjoys being out there! It was a great time especially with the great weather that we had.

We also purchased a couple of bikes today for just riding around town, etc. It’s going to be great!! The public transportation system in Melbourne is great (there’s a tram that will take you anywhere you want to go) but I think that Jason and I will enjoy tooling around town on bikes. We did ship over our triathlon bikes for longer rides but these new bikes will be GREAT for just getting around town.

Throw another shrimp on the barbie!

How do you officially experience all Australia has to offer? When you tell Jason “throw some shrimp on the Barbie” and this is the result:

NOW, who is volunteering to visit!!!! On Saturday we stopped by the Queen Victoria Market to get some fresh seafood and veggies for dinner, we grilled them and then sat on the couch as the jet lag set in!
For Sunday afternoon’s activities, Jason and I tried a new sport – lawn bowling. Apparently it mostly enjoyed by the older crowd here in Australia but I don’t see why since it was sure a lot of fun. But then again, we were playing with 5 other Americans who also had virtually no idea what they were doing.
For those with little or no exposure to the sport of lawn bowling (as was the case for me until the guy named “Chopper” at the bowling club fully explained the game to us), it seems a lot like bocce ball, horseshoes, shuffleboard, or curling. One team throws a small white ball about 20-30 yards down a grass lane. Then, each team takes turns throwing their 8 larger balls down the lawn to land as close to that white ball as possible. To add some challenge, the larger balls are asymmetrical and therefore begin to curve as they slow down on their way down the court. I’m also not convinced picking one of the windiest days since I’ve been here was the wisest choice. Seems a lot like learning to ski on ice (but a lot less dangerous). But either way, it was a very fun experience. I’m waiting for Jason to try to talk me into joining the bowling club, similar to how he wanted us to be members at the High Museum and Fernbank several years ago. I’ll have some lawn bowling pictures to post soon – just waiting to get them from someone since we forgot the camera at the apartment that day!

Christmas and a New Niece

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, fun and safe New Years!!! I had a very long, jam-packed week without even a minute of free time….. but it was worth it to try to get everything done that I needed to!

I flew back to Atlanta on Dec 23 (also arriving on Dec 23) after quite and adventurous flight. First, about 15 minutes before I wanted to leave for the airport, I locked my keys in my apartment. After about 2 minutes of complete panic, I knocked on my neighbor’s door and THANKFULLY he was able to put me in touch with the only locksmith in the city that could open that particular type of high security lock. And not only that, they were able to come out within 30 minutes. Unbelievable considering everyone at work takes off from Dec 23rd-Jan 8th for the holidays! I was completely floored!! Then I called a taxi and they were at my apartment within 10 minutes (again, still shocked at this turn around time!). I was at the airport at approximately the same time that I had originally planned on being there. When my flight arrived in Sydney, I stepped off the plane and walked to the gate next door to immediately board my flight to San Fran. When we arrived in San Fran, the flight was about 30 minutes late, leaving me less than one hour of my original 1hr20min connection time. Knowing this, when the seat belt sign went off, I immediately hopped up, walked past about 15 rows of seats, down the stairs of the 747 and was the second person off the plane. I went through one customs person, picked up my bags, went through another, and RAN to the place where I had to recheck my bags. I explained to the guy that was taking my bag that I was on the flight to Atlanta at 11am and he said that I wouldn’t make it – I begged him to take the bag and try and he said that he’d personally take the bag for me! Now that’s what I’m talking about. So, from this point, I ran through the San Francisco airport – having to then go through the regular security again to get to the gate my flight was departing from on one of the busiest travel days of the year! I don’t think that I even looked at any part of the airport to remember what it looks like! I was one of the last people to board the flight to Atlanta – but I made it home on time – actually the flight was about 20 minutes early, combined with the fact that Jason was 10 minutes late picking me up, so I had an extra 30 minutes hanging out in the Atlanta airport. But I was just thankful that I made it. Of course I had to return to the airport the following morning to drop Jason off so he could spend Christmas in Florida!

Now I know that no one is interested in what went on back home last week but I do need to share a picture of my new niece who was born on Dec 27th – luckily 4 days before her due date in plenty of time for me to see her before flying back on Jan 1st. I think that she looks just like her adorable brother did when he was a few hours old and in complete fairness, I’ll share some pictures of both of them!

So, Jason and I flew back to Melbourne on Jan 1st (arriving on the 3rd Australian time). It’s great to have him here and I’ve very excited to show him around and then venture outside the city to do more fun things! I think that so far he really like Australia (don’t worry, we are eventually coming home!).

Take care everyone!!