STATE LAW!

Hellooo!

They have these cameras here at some street lights that can tell when you speed up to get through a yellow light and then they send you a ticket!!  How shady is that? Since when is running a YELLOW light illegal? Why  not just take out  the color completely and write the poor people that happen to run the red light tickets since you’re going to be jerks about it. (By the way, the spell check just told me I spelled “color” wrong. Ha. I’M AMERICAN, FOOL) I am learning that Australia is quite the rigid, Big Brother type country. They have a legal drinking limit of .05 (please.), you cannot own your own handgun, there is no death penalty, cars always stop for pedestrians, which I’m not complaining about but it does take the fun out of stepping in front of a car and yelling “state law.” They charge you for using plastic bags at Target, in an effort to help the earth I suppose. Not a bad idea unless you are me who has no reusable bag and would forget to take it with anyway. Don’t really understand how they get people to be so good at following rules when you take away the threat of killing them. Let me tell you, when I have my country I will do the killing. It’ll be like “The Most Dangerous Game.”

So anyway...The girls have been passing around a bug so that has been stressful for them. We are going to a valley of vineyards called Hunter Valley next weekend. I can celebrate my birthday by going on a wine tour!! V excited.

I have a cell phone now! If you want the number just email me. Same with my home address. Fun new words to learn:

*Ta- Thank you or please

*Fanny- girly parts

*Thongs- flip flops (these last two had me pretty thrown)

*Mince- ground beef. Heard of mince pie before and only just now realized what it is.

*Avro- afternoon

*Fairy floss- cotton candy (thanks, Joy)

*Sultanas- raisins, but not really because they are made from a different grape

Going to watch a movie called “Trainspotting.” Anyone have any thoughts on it? In other entertainment news, I am reading “The Help” and loving it. Thanks to all who recommended. Also, it looks like the new fam is friends with many famous people. I may have a chance to go to a BBQ with Leonardo Dicaprio.  Standby for updates.

For the curry lovers: I had my first Brown here yesterday and it was only good. I would like to try some others. It was pretty thick and only came with beef. No veggies either. Not bad tasting but not what I expected. Pics to come.

Miss and love you all!

Boxers, Briefs, or Pantaloons?

Hi!
I cannot remember if I gave Casey credit for the name and the title of this post but she deserves it. I've gotten multiple compliments...


Right now I am sitting at a bar in the city at some restaurant in a shopping area. The glass of wine I have is A$17. Even with the exchange rate it still hurts a bit. Given that today is my first day off I see no problem spending the day getting sloshed. Calm down, Mom. I'm not that serious. (Yes I am, Jay.)

It's a cloudy day today and the Extrems (family's last name. shiny presents to whoever makes up the best nickname for them) went to the fish market and to play with the kids. I decided to go into town and upload some pictures so hopefully you will be able to go to facebook and see all my pictures from Fiji and the trip so far. Maybe even some videos.


So yesterday Taylor stayed home from school because of a cough but we did walk up to the school to participate in the book parade. All the children dressed up as their favorite character and pranced around. It was so cute. Taylor went as Katelyn the Royal Wedding Fairy. There were tons of Harry Potters and Luke Skywalkers. Ooo and fyi they refer to them as first years and year 2, year 3, etc, which I thought they only did in Hogwarts! Turns out it's a thing. not grades but years...

Other random things I have noticed:
*23 years of walking to the right of oncoming pedestrians is ruining my life here. Everytime I go to avoid someone they turn the same direction I do  because they are used to walking and driving on the left side. It is very awkward. Eventually we meet face to face having gone as far as we could to the right.

*Every Asian I see I hope it's communitychannel or Hazel or Esther from Renaissance. So far I am 0 for 19356.
*No one calls it ketchup, it's tomato sauce.
*Jay and Ravin- there are SO many Alfa Romeos here it is unbelievable. I have taken many pictures and think about you both every time I see one. Took a pic of a Maserati the other day in honor of Mama. 
*I'm walking a lot which is nice since I am making zero effort to exercise

Going to try to insert a video here from Fiji. hopefully you will be able to see it. If anyone wants to leave comments try leaving it under your gmail account if you do not have one of the other ones listed.  Love you guys!

G'day! :)

Today  we dropped the girls off at school and now I have until about 3 to play! I need to go get a SIM card for my phone and a new converter so I can plug up my computer. After that I guess I’ll wander around the neighbourhood and get to know the area. I got to see downtown yesterday with Karen. I saw the Opera House and all the shopping stores, some cool pubs, and where Craig and Karen got married! The internet is on the fritz until the guy come next week to set up wireless, so sorry to all of you that tried to talk to me via facebook and skype. I was glad I got to chat a little!

The family is absolutely beautiful. The girls are sweet but very rambunctious. [Never actually written that word- it’s weird.] I’ll take some video so you can see their personalities and quirks. The house is wonderful and pretty large for the location, so there is plenty of room. I have the cabana in the backyard to myself so I can have a bit of privacy if I need it (theoretically, anyway).

I tried some Vegemite yesterday on a cracker biscuit with butter but I put so little on there that I couldn’t taste it, so I will try again today. Food is good here so far. Both Craig and Karen like to cook which is wonderful. There is always food in the house. Last night we had really delicious tacos that were about 5 Thai Hot and they were AWESOME. The night before Craig made chicken risotto. MMMM.  Speaking of Thai hot, Karen said they love green curry so I hope they make it as good here as Thai House. I have high hopes for the food intake this year. :)

I’m really enjoying getting to know Australians and vice versa. I love asking them questions that they laugh at (“Can I have a pet Kangaroo?” “Why can’t I order Fosters beer?”) and am loving the ones they give me (“So you’re a redneck?” “You have your own gun? But...why?” ) They are so fun to hang out with and I am really excited that they are so similar to me. Guys- their DVD collection rivals mine. And we have most of the same stuff, which I see now is unfortunate since I could’ve packed some warmer gear instead of 78 DVDs.  Ah well!  Um, okay well, that’s about all I’ve got now. I’m off to wander around and all that. I love and miss you all!

Steph

Fiji!

Hi everyone!hopefully this blog will not bore you to death. It should document my life while i am living in Sydney.
Making friends is absolutely necessary to enjoy Fiji. The people are so sweet it's strange. Southern hospitality on steroids. Sometimes I wonder if the person I'm talking to is trying to abduct me or if he's just normal for Fiji. Today I woke up and got my luggage(!!!!) then headed across the street to the hostel on the beach I spent the day at yesterday. I had some coffee and met a guy named patrick who is a dive instructor here. Then I went down an laid out and watched my new friend plus others play a really terrible game of rugby. I just finished up a nice cheese tomato and tuna sandwich and vonu beer.now I think I'll walk down the beach then continue sun bathing! 

So I've been laying for a couple hours and my friend simon from the hostel comes over to my chair and gives me a freshly carved coconut. He cuts open the hole in the top sticks a straw in and says that he was just making sure I was not dehydrated. How sweet is that?! It's so odd because it's not exactly like coconut milk but has that consistency . It's clear and....bland?mild may be a better word. Thanks Simon!

Also thanks to dad who got a new toilet with two buttons for the flusher and told me one button was for "little business and the other is for big business." I would have been at a loss with the toilets here.