New Digs

Well, it may be a new world record -- perhaps a new galactic record.

4 and 1/2 hours.

That was the total amount of time that it took us to move.
This morning, at 9:15, we picked up the moving truck. At that point, I would like the people at Guiness World Records to note that we had not packed...anything.
This afternoon at 2:45 we returned the truck. That even includes a stop to fill the tank with diesel. I have practically dislocated my shoulder patting myself on the back.
I also practically dislocated my shoulder carrying the mattress, climbing over the bed frames, and hauling one of the world's heaviest privately owned dining room tables.
All of this was made possible through the understanding, willingness to help, and strong back of our friend Kirk, here from Rochester just in time to help us move. In fact, it is on his computer that i type this update, since he chronicled the event and has most of the photos.
So...without further ado...

Our new home!

Merry Christmas!

Oh christmas blog, oh christmas blog,
that's how we keep in touch with y'all
Oh christmas blog, oh christmas blog
herein's news which will you enthrall.

A letter to the folks who freeze,
from the heat of the antipodes

oh christmas blog, oh christmas blog,
we're constantly thinking of you all.


I know that it's still Christmas (or, as the nickname-mad aussies say, "Chrissie") back in the US, so this should get in just under the wire as a holiday blog, but here, we've cleaned up the wrapping paper, made all the phone calls, slept as long as we could in the heat, and now it's Boxing Day.
Either way, we're enjoying a couple of days of relaxation before things get a little busy next week.

The only problem is that it is hot. I mean, really, really hot. Today it is predicted that the mercury will top out at 43 degrees C, which doesn't sound like much until i punch it into the unit conversion feature on my phone (the only feature that gets used much), and realize that this is a whopping 110 degrees F. Even if I wasn't feeling hot before, now I do. Luckily, we've made friends with a couple 2 houses over who have a swimming pool.

The other solution is to head to the beach, which we have already done. At 10am, it was over 90, and we sat roasting on the beach with the rest of town, occasionally splashing in the Indian Ocean to cool off. Then, if you can believe it, it became too hot for the beach. So now we're back home, watching a little of the boxing day test cricket and trying unsuccessfully to ignore the list of things that we really should be paying attention to.

Such as cleaning out the guest room. Kirk (a friend from Rochester) arrives tomorrow morning, and his room is where all of our hockey equipment is currently spread out, drying over the break in the hockey schedule.

Or getting ready for Nathan to start a new job. Tired of driving an hour and a half a day, I've taken a new job a little closer to home. Theoretically, I will be working fewer hours and driving fewer hours, which has the result of being able to see some of this huuuuuge country that we are trying to explore, but the early indications are that I will be working just as much. Hmmmm.

Or packing. Our lease is up, and we found a great new place in a very cool part of town, but it is going to mean moving this weekend, and even then our lease will only be for 6 months, and we may have to move again at the end of that time. Sometimes i think that in the last few years, all i've done is load moving trucks!

Luckily, during this busy time, Kris is required to take a 10 day break while the university shuts down -- which is a nice benefit to the position -- and it couldn't have worked out nicer in terms of having time when Kirk is here and moving and stuff.

I hope this finds you all in good spirits!
Merry Christmas.

house-hunting again!

So, for the last few weeks we have been house-hunting again. Our lease expires 24 January, but our landlords wanted to be in on the 7th if we could move earlier. With Christmas, that means a pretty tight turn around. We've looked at lots of places. Mostly we've focused on the neighborhoods that near the beach, the river, or Fremantle--which coincidently are almost all out of our price range. What I've been able to find in our price range, in those neighborhoods, either doesn't allow pets, doesn't have air conditioning, or was last decorated and cleaned in 1967.

Then last week, as I was leaving work, I noticed the price had dropped on a house near Fremantle. I called the agent, she would be able to show it to me in 15 minutes. I saw it and fell in love. Leaded glass windows, high ceilings, dark polished wood work, air conditioning, and A DISHWASHER!!!(this is a luxury item in Australia--and much needed in our house). Only thing is it had 2 bedrooms instead of 3. I went home that night, desperate to show Nathan. That evening, we pulled up to the house to look it over. He said it looked good enough from the outside to rent (interior unseen). As we walked from the prospective property to a nearby restaurant, we began making plans to put in a deposit on the place tomorrow. As we walked back from dinner, we came across someone moving into OUR HOUSE (we just hadn't told the landlords yet). I was devastated (we had already lost another house a few weeks ago). The next day Nathan went to the real estate agent to ask about the property--knowing I had my heart set on it. Surprisingly they took our money (we still don't know who these people were!). The next day, we got the call that we were accepted, but the original lease would only be for 6 months, with a possibility of renewing after that (of course, there's the possibility of house hunting again in 6 months, ugh!)

After some debate, we agreed to take it, in faith that this would work out and this is the place for us. We'll be moving over new year's weekend, and luckily will have an extra set of hands. Our friend Kirk from Rochester is coming to visit (and see the round the world clipper race). We'll post new addresses, and pictures when the lease is signed. We'll be getting mail at our current address for at least 2 more weeks, and set up forwarding after that. So don't worry about mailing presents--we'll get em!

Someone's out there!

Hey--the power of google strikes again.

Blogging is kind of weird. Its this diary, where you tell NO ONE (specifically) about your life, but have to be circumspect about what you say because ANYONE can read it. It's been great to get comments from friends and relatives that have been reading--periodically getting our random thoughts on life in Australia. But, when friends' post--its not interactive, I can't easily comment on what they say...even though I want it to be a conversation. I had begun wondering if just doing a periodic mass email to my friends would make more sense, at least then I could respond quickly when someone puts up a smart aleck comment about my spelling, or is awestruck by the size of the mighty koala. AND, it would probably be easier for them to keep up to date.

AND then...the internet does its magic.

Out of the blue, we are contacted by old friends. Jess and Ellis--googling us for our overseas address they came across the blog. I've tried searching to see if they have a blog, but all I get for those 2 are publications (since they are biochemistry professors). Jess was my college roommate at Gustavus (a genius), somehow we lost touch while she was living in California, exchanging Christmas letters for an annual update. It feels good to know that she is able to look across this whole year and see what's been happening. I guess it makes me feel connected to all of you just a little bit more.

Anyway, thanks for reading this every now and then. Kristin

Summer's arrived!

On Friday 30 November, the Vet School celebrated Registration Day. Registration Day is the day students recieve their marks from the Veterinary Surgeon's Board, and if suitably high, they become registered as veterinarians. Its far more important than graduation day which is the school's official recognition of their degree, because this literally says Australia gives them license to work as vets.

The ceremony was simple. Students meet with the Surgeon's Board. If approved, they pick up a pack from our alumni officer saying "Congratulations your a Vet!!!", then a 45 min ceremony with a brief address, and awards for top marks in the class. Then back down to the Vet School for the traditional celebration luncheon--snaggas (sausages) and champagne! It's a pretty busy time for the admin staff (I'm touring with parents, getting prizes ready, hosting VIPs, and helping to get materials ready), but some of us celebrated by attending the graduation dinner (a black tie event to meet more parents, say goodbye to the students that we are close to, and celebrate the end of a stress-filled week).

Registration day also marks the unofficial start of summer at Murdoch. Suddenly, we all expect to get caught up with the things we've been putting off. People start working regular work weeks--instead of all the overtime. With almost 6 months of being short staffed, my backlog is longer than I'd like but with 3 weeks til the long break I'm hopeful I'll get it done. We prepare for a long holiday break--the University closes from 21 December until 2 January. (I hope I'll be able to stay away!)

Sitting on our back porch, it seems like summer has arrived overnight. The weather today is beautiful, a golden sunset but still cool. You'll never hear me say this--but it would be a perfect night for a run along the beach (actually its easy to say it, hard to do it. I sprained my knee a few weeks ago in hockey practice, so I know I can't possibly follow through).

Suddenly, our lemon tree is overburdened with ripe lemons, we can't make lemonade fast enough to use them all. The figs are coming in, but aren't quite ready yet. That doesn't stop the lorakeets that have moved into our backyard and are making raucous noises getting fat on our figs. At dusk, the kookaburras start up, with their laughing call (sort of a musical cross between monkeys and loons). If we walked down to the lake, we'd hear the frogs making their alien love calls. (they have a frog here called the moaning frog...its freaky).

I've been working too much the last few months, and am determined to relax and enjoy this place. I'm starting now...anyone for lemonade?

Give Thanks...somebody made green bean casserole!

Last Wednesday, Nathan and I hosted an orphans' thanksgiving for the North American vet students at Murdoch. All of the Americans and Canadians who had no place to go were invited to our house for a thanksgiving eve celebration. Nathan and I would provide the turkey, each student would bring one of the side dishes. I sent around an email, and quickly had 30 hungry, stressed vet students signing up to bring their traditional side dish. It only seemed fitting we'd host these North Americans in our house on Pilgrim way.

As a party it sounded pretty easy...I'd clean the house, Nathan (who had Wednesday off) would throw the birds in the oven, and a thanksgiving feast would magically appear.

Well, first you have to find a turkey. For a while, Nathan and I were cruising the supermarkets and butchers to try and find a decent size turkey. (Particularly unusual for our vegetarian Nathan). But all we could find were 5-6 lb birds--the turkey equivalent of a cornish game hen.

As the week before the event approached, we began worrying that we would be serving cold cuts or those pressed turkey breast slices that you get in Swanson meals and school lunches. Luckily, Aussie carry on the English tradition of planning for their holidays a long time in advance and the Christmas turkeys started arriving the Sunday before thanksgiving. We snatched up 2 15 lb turkeys.

Since we didn't ship any of our household items (just stowaways with a couple of bags), Nathan faced the daunting of trying to find meat platters, a turkey baster, and a gravy boat. Let's just say there isn't as much on offer in the kmart, target, walmart range of shopping here, and Nathan had to head to the gourmet cooking shop on the day of our party to find the items we needed. Just what he wanted to do on his day off--buy a gravy boat!

When he returned, he faced the dilemma of cooking 2 turkeys. We have a European size oven (read tiny), and an Aussie size BBQ (read enormous) so we cooked a turkey in each place. Nathan monitored them carefully since we had no idea how they would and he turned out two gorgeous Martha Stewart-worthy turkeys that had our guests oohing and aahing. We used Tim Carnahan's suggestion of cooking them breast-side down for part of the time, and everyone had compliments about how our turkey wasn't dry like their mother-in-laws! My job was to turn out the gravy, and I can't testify to the quality but we definitely had quantity...I made almost 2 liters.

Guests started arriving, bringing dips, deviled eggs, olives and cheeses, home-made corn fritters, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, roast veg, broccoli salad, green salad, rolls, chocolate mouse, lemon cheese cake, and lots of pumpkin pie. It looked beautiful--but I was heartbroken--no green bean casserole. It's my favorite--green beans, mushroom soup, and Durkees fried onions. I had lobbied several of the American students knew to bring it, but no one could find the Durkees fried onions. Just when we had gotten ready to give thanks for our food, there was a knock at the door. Christina Webb (one of the 3rd year students with whom I've been working on a few projects at the Vet School) showed up with a small precious dish of green bean casserole. She knew it was my favorite, so she made the Durkee's fried onions.....from SCRATCH! For friends like these--you have to give thanks.

It was a great way to spend our first thanksgiving away from home in long time. As thanksgiving isn't a holiday in Australia, it would have been difficult to head into work knowing our friends and family were celebrating far away without us. Several of the students said the same thing. Somehow sharing turkey leftovers with my coworkers for lunch on Thursday made it seem like home.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Okay. I know I missed the boat, but after I posted our update (and list of excuses) I realized that it was Guy Fawkes Day (the guy who tried to blow up parliament for because of religious oppression in England). and I just want to say the movie V for Vendetta rocks.

In Australia, remember, remember, the 6thof November.
The other thing I want to say is that they don't celebrate Guy Fawkes Day here, because its so close to the MELBOURNE CUP. Its a horse race that is sort of like the Kentucky Derby. Except for this year it was on a Tuesday. And everybody watches it. I mean everybody! In Victoria (where Melbourne is) its an official holiday--banks close.

We shut down our emergency hospital (okay some people had to stay and save the animals but like 1/4 of the usual staff) so that the hospital staff could watch the race. Just like in My Fair Lady the tradition is formal attire, with big hats. We had a few people dress up, but mostly people made hats out of X-RAY film, those big cones that dogs wear, and gauze. We bet on our horses, cheered the race on the big screen TV in the equine hospital, and then toasted the winners of the betting--yet another obscure fun tradition.