HFDU - 19th Edition

Originally sent: November 6, 2004

G'day everyone. Welcome to the 19th Edition of HFDU! The last month has been action-packed and very busy. It must be the warmer weather that gives us here all the energy to keep busy! So what's been going on in sunny Melbourne lately???

We have had a large influx of secondees in the office here over the past couple of months, so there are lots of new faces around. I'm happy that one of them is another American from Boston, as I've been able to reminisce with her about all things American. It's been enjoyable seeing her first impressions of Australia as it reminds me of when I had first arrived…..over 16 months ago! We have another secondee from Scotland that has just come over with her husband, which brings our secondee count in the FOS Group up to 3 Scots, 1 Irish gal, 1 Swiss guy, and me. It's easy to bond with other secondees as we are all in similar situations and have the same desire to travel around, mostly to places that the Aussies have already been. But I also make a conscious effort to spend time with the locals.

I have spent some good quality time with a couple of other Americans - K & J are an American couple who have moved to Melbourne permanently (they've been here 6 years) and they just had a little boy at the end of May. I introduced B to proper fajitas and margaritas when the 4 of us got together one Sunday afternoon at K & J's house and had a bit of a Mexican fiesta on their patio. It was lovely! We had all bumped into each other the day before at the USA Foods Store as we were all picking up goodies for our "fiesta". Let me just tell you, it really increased my craving for proper Tex-Mex! I'll be eating plenty when I'm home in about 6 weeks :-)

B & I attended the Phillip Island Grand Prix a few weekends ago. This is the motorbike Grand Prix rather than cars, so you guessed it……..we took his bike down and were in the midst of hundreds of other bikes on the way down (about 1.5 hour ride) and on the way back. It was a memorable experience, being part of a whole group of motorbikes, and being around people who are "normal" like we are, but who enjoy riding bikes. There were also the hard-core Harley riders, who were interesting to be around :-) Sitting around the track, watching the motorbikes going around a lot faster than my eyes could keep up with, and being around this crowd, was fantastic! I felt like I was totally out of my element, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The World Champion Valentino Rossi won again, but the race was an "edge of your seat" one as he had to battle for his win. When I load up more photos to the website I'll be sure to include ones from the day at the track, one of which has me with the track (and Valentino Rossi riding in the background). I told B that if I ride with him too much more, I'll have to get my own leather riding jacket :-)

B's footy season ended with their Grand Final win in September, but we had the Footy Presentation night this past month, where they give all of the awards from the year and recap everything that went on. We got to watch a slide show of the many photos that were taken from the year, and B made the "Greek Team of the Century" - of which he was very proud (and so was I)! It was a bit sad for footy season to be over, as that's what had occupied my Saturday afternoons and evenings for 6 months, but it'll come around soon enough I suppose. On the subject of Greek, my Greek language class is seriously kicking my butt right now! It's become quite hard, not only because it's a hard to language to learn, but also because I haven't been putting in the time each week to practice and learn as I should be (the weather's just been too nice!). But, I only have 2 more classes in this course, and then the next course doesn't start until February so that'll give me a nice break. I'm still quite proud of myself for even attempting the class in the first place!

I was invited as a guest of one of my clients to a "Business Chicks Breakfast" which actually turned out to be quite enjoyable. Although it started quite early in the morning, it basically was intended for business women to network, win door prizes and raffles, and eat a great brekkie before heading off to work. The Spring Racing Carnival came around again, so Melbourne's been going crazy with all of the horse racing. It's probably the biggest fashion event of the year, with all of the ladies wearing the best frocks and the biggest and most extravagant hats to match. In fact, a lot of ladies by the hat first and then find a dress to match. I didn't attend the races this year as B & I went away for the long weekend (Melbourne Cup Day is a state holiday for Victoria) and the weather on the other days was rainy and cold. But it's still fun to have the races around because everyone is in a betting mood and usually quite festive when the races are over.

I had a bit of a hiccup this last month when I came down with a nasty case of tonsillitis. I honestly can't remember the last time that I was that sick, and I was out of work for a week. It was absolutely miserable! And B was out of town working in Sydney that week, so I went an entire week without seeing a single person that I knew, as I could barely talk and certainly wouldn't have wanted to make anyone else sick! The only time that I left the house was to go to the doctor's office to get my prescription and shots. But, I'm all better now and have decided that I would not wish tonsillitis on my worst enemy!

With the nicer weather here, I've been trying to think of things to do outside, and have come up with a list. So whenever I decide to do something outside for the day, I look at my list and select something from there. A couple of weekends ago, B & I spent the afternoon at Luna Park, which is an amusement park on the beach. It was basically us and all of the families with children, but we enjoyed ourselves and acted appropriately, eating hot dogs, fries, ice cream and cotton candy (which Aussies call fairy floss). The rides are the same as American rides, but the roller coasters here weren't all that great as the park is not a "big" one - more of a local one.

Now getting into elections……Australia just re-elected it's current prime minister John Howard. It was an experience being over here during the election. It's very similar to an American election with the tv advertisements, but the difference was that I really didn't care as I have no clue about Australian politics, or the issues that people are really concerned about. The other big difference is that voting over here is compulsory, and you'll get a fine if you don't vote. The Aussies are used to it, so it really doesn't phase them. The funny thing is that the government gets to decide on when the election is. The current prime minister can pick any time within a given timeframe (I think it's a 3 year term and they can choose the election date any time within the last year of their term) for the election day, so it usually ends up being when he's on everyone's good side. Very interesting…….

There was also quite a bit of coverage of the American Presidential election, which was surprisingly pretty unbiased. I think the thing that irritated me the most was when the Aussies start talking about American politics like they know everything about it, or that it directly impacts them. Most people here seem to be anti-Bush because of the war, but that’s all they talk about rather than any other issues because that's the only bit that they are exposed to. I tried my best to avoid getting into those discussions as I'm not the most politically savvy person anyway!

Okay, I've just realized how long this email is, so I'll try to wrap up. Just a few things that I want to mention:
- softball season starts next week and I'm very excited! B's playing this year too, so that'll make it even better.
- we are 2 episodes away from the final Sex in the City (I know we're behind) and it's very exciting! People who have just come over from Europe or America already know the ending so we have to make sure to keep them quiet. We are also nearing the end of Friends as well, which will be a tragic day!
- I'm coming home in 6 weeks! Have made plans to squeeze in visits with as many people as possible, and have booked a trip to NYC for New Year's Eve. Woo hoo!
- B's got me watching the Simpsons now. I had never watched an episode before he came along. That's quite an achievement!
- I still love Australia and think the Aussies are fantastic people. I still can't emphasize enough that I think anyone who's ever thought about coming over here absolutely should. It's taught me a lot about people and life, and definitely has changed me….I think for the better. The funny thing is that the more I love Australia and feel at home here, the more patriotic I feel towards the States as well.

I've got to send a separate email covering B & I's recent adventures in Tasmania, but I'll give you a break from reading and do that in a week or so. I hope everyone is well and getting excited about the holiday season. I'm sad that I don't get to be home for Thanksgiving, but I trust that all of you will enjoy the holiday and the Christmas shopping the day after! I look forward, as always, to hearing from you, and to seeing many of you over the Christmas holidays.