G'day everyone! Well the past month has been pretty busy, both from a work and social perspective. There were 4 weeks straight where we had 4 day weeks due to public holidays and our FOS Group Retreat. Hopefully after the first 21 emails, I can still make this one somewhat entertaining :-)
As the "chairman" of our group's Teams for Dreams program, I coordinated a FOS Group Trivia Night that raised over $1,100 towards our goal of $5,000. It was a great night, with over 80 people participating, but it certainly was time-consuming for me and the lady that was helping me. I didn't realize how many trivia questions there are on the internet, and of course, I had to find the fun and interesting questions to use rather than the boring ones, so it took me ages to get just the right set of 60 questions to ask on the night. I'm currently working on a Wine Appreciation Night to also raise money for our Starlight wish child, so in the next HFDU I'll hopefully have some good results to report on that event as well!
Easter weekend is extra long for us as we get Good Friday and Easter Monday off. I spent the weekend with B & his family down at their holiday house at Lakes Entrance. The weekend consisted of fishing, eating, fishing, eating fish, playing cards with the oldies, and generally relaxing. It was a great weekend and I caught some great fish and spent come quality time with B's family. I learned how to make several Greek dishes and that when in doubt, always add more olive oil and garlic, as they apparently make everything better! We have another long weekend coming up for ANZAC Day, so B & I are taking a road trip to Sydney, stopping through Canberra (that nation's capital) on the way.
This past weekend was a busy one with our end-of-season softball party on Friday night, B's first footy game on Saturday afternoon, and the International Rodeo on Saturday night. Our softball team ended up losing the in the Grand Final, but spirits were certainly high on Friday night and lots of sushi and pizza were eaten! It was a bit bittersweet for me though as it reminded me that I would not be here for next year's entire season :-(
B's footy team moved up a division from last year since they won the Grand Final, so they will be up against more fierce competition this season, which of course, he is thrilled about. They lost their 1st game on Saturday by one point, but put forth a valiant effort. My Scottish friends, KD & CD, came along to cheer on B, and it was good to catch up with all of the wives and girlfriends of the players as I hadn't seen them since the Grand Final bash in October.
Saturday night I took B, KD, & CD to the International Rodeo that was in town :-) It was great fun, especially since none of them (and probably most of the other Aussies who were there), had never been to a rodeo before! It was complete with bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, and barrel racing. No calf roping or steer wrestling, but considering that it lasted for over 4 hours, we were relieved that there weren't any more competitions! The bulls were mean indeed, and only a few of the cowboys were able to stay on for 8 seconds. However, there was a ride at the end of the night that was not part of the competition, that involved a cowboy trying to ride the son of "Chainsaw", who was called "Chain Reaction" - who was a bull who had never been ridden and would earn the cowboy $100,000 if he stayed on. Chainsaw is apparently an infamous bull like Bodacious (for those of you down south who know him), and this was his only son. Well, the cowboy did it! So at least one cowboy walked away happy & rich from the evening, but I'm guessing it wasn't the one who got knocked out, then trampled by the bull that had just bucked him off! Anyway, no rodeo is complete without animal activists sharing their beliefs, and it even happens in Australia. About 5-6 of them ran onto the arena floor carrying signs before they were escorted off by the venue security and pummelled by one very angry cowgirl who thought that they were ruining her evening!
I just started my second round of belly dancing classes this week, and have actually registered for two classes a week so that I can maybe actually become good at it and be part of a performance. I really do enjoy it, and it's also great exercise and is providing me with a challenge. These classes are definitely more complicated than the beginners class, so they'll keep me on my toes for sure! KD & I took our men to a "Middle Eastern Night" a few weeks ago to watch our belly dancing teacher dance. We were all really impressed by the show, and were amazed that the men in the show could rival the women in hip movements! I would much prefer watching the women, but it was interesting anyhow.
The International Comedy Festival just ended and B & I managed to catch a couple of shows. I haven't typically been a huge fan of comedy (mainly because of the foul language involved), but some of these guys were actually really, really funny! For about 2 weeks, the city was full of comedians, both local & international, performing at theatres all over Melbourne every day and night of the week. It was a bit crazy for a while around here, but at least everyone was laughing :-)
What's been going on at work……we had our annual FOS Group Retreat a couple of weekends ago in a beach town along the Great Ocean Road. We went down on the Sunday morning and came back to Melbourne late on Monday afternoon. B & I actually took the bike down as it was only about a 2 hour ride from the city. It was great fun, as expected, and the theme for the dinner/dance on Sunday night was "The Decade You Were Born", which means that 95% of the group was dressed in 70's and 80's attire. It was hilarious to re-live our youth, especially seeing the 80's clothes that I used to wear! B dressed as "himself" in the 70's, so you can guess what he was dressed as, or check out the website for a photo. As part of this, within our various levels, we had to create a performance matching our decade, so there were such performances as Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Family Feud, Michael Jackson, etc. They were hilarious! We also did group activities (choice of golf, surfing lessons, mountain bike riding or horseback riding) and a scavenger hunt around the city. And we played team tennis, soccer, beach volleyball, and beach cricket. Try getting an American who has never played cricket before to "bowl" (cricket's version of pitching) without making a complete fool of herself! It was a good experience anyway :-)
We also had a firm wide social club event at a bar called "Backlot", which was designed after a Hollywood movie set. It was very cool, with different city scenes and set props. Speaking of movies, Nicolas Cage's new movie Ghost Rider is currently being filmed across the street from my office building. On the streets of Melbourne are American police cars, which look crazily out of place, but it was a bit nostalgic to see "Department of Public Safety" written on the side of a black & white Chevy Caprice! And maybe I'll actually run into Nicolas Cage…….
A few more tidbits:
- B resigned from our company and his 4 weeks are up the first week in May. I think he'll be much happier for it!
- I've become a train girl rather than a tram girl. I decided to start taking the train to/from work to change up my routine a little bit. It also means a 15 minute walk to the train station (so more exercise), and although Flinders Street Station isn't quite Grand Central Station, it still feels a bit more like America to me.
- I'm picking up two American secondees from the airport tomorrow morning who are coming over from New York for 2 years. It will be very exciting to have other Americans in this group as I've been the only one for almost 2 years now.
- Someone the other day told me that I didn't sound like an American. Oh yeah? So what do I sound like then?!?!?
- I bought Hooters wing sauce from the USA Foods Store the other day and can't wait to make them!
It’s not too late to come for a visit. Considering that I'm saving up for my travels on the way home, after Hawaii I won't be going anywhere so come over & see me!
Well, summer is fading away and autumn is creeping in. The leaves have started changing and the AFL footy season is upon us. This only means that winter is around the corner, which means that there are no more afternoons in the beer garden of the Belgian Beer Café, no more afternoons strolling along the Yarra River, no more weekend evenings spent sitting outside at a café for hours, and no more long rides on the back of B's motorbike. But, the good news is that in 5 1/2 weeks, I get to forget about winter and head to Hawaii for 10 days to meet up with my sister for her 30th birthday. Just the two of us, and we are both really looking forward to it! I have a few Aussies here that are very jealous, but then again, why shouldn’t they be?!?!? :-)
I hope everyone is well and not completely bored of this email. Because they are coming less frequently now, I find that they are longer, but you've at least got more time to read it :-) Keep in touch please and I'll see you all stateside in less than a year!
No comments:
Post a Comment