Australia

Christmas in Australia is pretty much the same as Christmas in America. Decorations are put up all over the city and stores. There is a giant Christmas tree in the center of town. People rush out to the stores to go Christmas shopping. Santa Claus still comes to all the kids houses.
So Christmas Eve we woke up and headed over to our friend Kimmie's for a Christmas Eve BBQ. It was about 10 in the morning and we all hung out outside in the nice warm weather on her patio. There was lamb, chicken, salads, potatoes, bread, and of course entrees (which is appetizers for us.) It was bright and sunny and everyone was in shorts and t shirts, which is a little different for us. We had a great time just visiting with everyone and of course we had our daily talk show about America for a while. People love to hear about it.
Some people went swimming and the rest of us just ate and talked. There were no presents involved and really everyone was jsut friends.
The Australians don't seem to be all about presents like we are. It seems like Christmas is very formal where we are compared to over here. We all dress nice, show up at a certain time, follow routines, and sit down altogether for a nice dinner.
Over here on the other hand, nobody cares about presents, people wear whatever they want to wear, eat whenever they want to eat, and even show up whenever they want. It feels more like 4th of July or Memorial day over here rather than Christmas.
After the bbq Meribeth and I went to work at about 3. We were a little anxious because we still had a little bit of shoppinig to do and the mall was going to close before we got off work. Well about 3:45 we still hadn't had a single customer, our boss said lets go home. So we closed up shop and Meribeth and I ran around the mall in record time to get a few last presents. On Christmas Eve here the malls close really early so people can get home to their families.
Our friends Louie and Brewster picked us up and took us back to their place so we could be there for Christmas morning. WE hung out for a little while, ate dinner, watched a movie, and went to bed.
The next morning we were woken up by an 8 year old and a 2 1/2 year old. Right ages, wrong kids. I imagined what Jayden and Brandon would have been doing while we were there. So the little girls sat down and began to open their sacks of presents that Santa had left them.
In this particular family, Santa actually leaves to sacks full of presents. They don't do stockings really because nobody has chiimney's here so the tradition never really took off. Nobody really could even tell me how Santa claus gets in the house. some joked that he squeezed in through the air conditioner cracks, others just said that he uses the front door.
Well after they opened a few presents everyone said well lets take a break and eat breakfast. I couldn't help but laugh because in all my 24 years I have never heard of any kids just taking a break in between presents and eating breakfast.
So we sat down for a huge breakfast. I made tipitas. We had pancakes, and raisin bread, croissants with chocolate in them (Which were absolutely amazing), and a few more things I cant remember now. IT was a very filling and fattening breakfast as all Christmas meals should be.
We all got up from breakfast and cleared the table. WE ate outside on their new deck in the sun. A few of them went and took showers, we watched t.v. a bit, then they decided they should probably open the rest of the presents.
They got me a Queensland police key chain that my name was engraved on, an Australian hat, and a bundeburg rum bikini. Bundeburg rum is made here and pretty much the only type of rum they sale. so itw as really cute.
After all that we headed over to Louie's sisters house for more food and swimming.
We got there and met everyone, and sat down to visit for a little while. They all opened a couple of presents, and then we snacked on chocolate candies and these entrees that we soo good. It was chocolate and peanut butter mixed and poured over thes Asian noodles. Sounds gross but wow so good! About an hour later we ate again. We had turkey, ham, salad, potatoes, bread, and again I can't remember what else.
Meribeth and I decided to go swimming and we played in the pool for about 3 hours. It was a nice sunny day and perfect for swimming. WE got out of the pool had a few more snacks, hung out for a little while longer and then headed home.
On our way home it started to rain, then it poured, and it hasn't stopped raining since. I said aw this is what it would be like at home right now. so we got a little of our Christmas weather too!
It was amazing to see the lack of presents there was here. Nobody celebrates Christmas for presents. Except for the kids, everyone just gets a few things, and a lot of them are small sentimental gifts. It's hard to explain but it was really different to watch. Christmas here is very casual and informal. It's just like having a bbq in the backyard and inviting some family and friends over. They really just love spending time together. Everybody welcomed us and made us feel so comfortable being at these places. It was really nice. Friends hang out as much as family.
Oh one thing that is totally different from the states is they hav Boxing day. Boxing day is a National holiday here and it the day after Christmas. It is their huge shopping day. The sales are huge on this day. Instead of celebrating Christmas Eve they celebrate on Boxing day. Some celebrate on all three days.
So that is Christmas in Australia. At least with the people I celebrated with. Christmas is Christmas, but there are a few differences here and there.

Here is an Australian Version of Jingle bells for you

Dashing through the bush,
in a rusty Holden Ute,
Kicking up the dust,
esky in the boot,
Kelpie by my side,
singing Christmas songs,
It's Summer time and I am in
my singlet, shorts and thongs

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

Engine's getting hot;
we dodge the kangaroos,
The swaggie climbs aboard,
he is welcome too.
All the family's there,
sitting by the pool,
Christmas Day the Aussie way,
by the barbecue.

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

Come the afternoon,
Grandpa has a doze,
The kids and Uncle Bruce,
are swimming in their clothes.
The time comes 'round to go,
we take the family snap,
Pack the car and all shoot through,
before the washing up.

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deck the Sheds

Deck the sheds with bits of wattle, fa la la la la la la la la

Whack some gum leaves in a bottle, fa la la la la la la la la

All the shops are open sundies, fa la la la la la la la la

Buy your Dad some sox and undies, fa la la la la la la la la

Deck the sheds with bits of gumtree, fa la la la la la la la la

Hang some deco's off the plum tree, fa la la la la la la la la

Plant some kisses on the missus, fa la la la la la la la la

Have a ripper Aussie Christmas, fa la la la la la la la la

Say g'day to friends and relies, fa la la la la la la la la

Wave them off with bulging bellies, fa la la la la la la la la

Kids and babies youngies oldies, fa la la la la la la la la

May your fridge be full of coldies, fa la la la la la la la la

Chop the wood and stoke the barbie, fa la la la la la la la la

Ring the folks in Abudabe, fa la la la la la la la la

Pop the stuffing in the turkey, fa la la la la la la la la

Little Mary's feeling ercky, fa la la la la la la la la

Rally rally round the table, fa la la la la la la la la

Fill your belly while your able, fa la la la la la la la la

Joyce and Joany, Dave and Daryl, fa la la la la la la la la

Sing an Aussie Christmas Carol, fa la la la la la la la la

Let us BBQ

Australians let us Barbeque
For Christmas time is here
We've Christmas pud and t-bone steaks
And slabs of ginger beer

We've gone and got the relies round
And we'll all have a ball
So let's kick back and have ourselves
A Yuletide free-for-all

Our forebears came from distant shores
To set this party up
So we could dine with paper plate
and polystyrene cup

On patterned plastic table cloth
We'll eat our Christmas pies
If our forebears could see us now
They'd not believe their eyes

Across this land in summer sun
In backyards small and great
We'll raise our voice in one accord
With "Merry Christmas Mate!'

In outback heat and city street
And all points in between
Come join with us and celebrate
This Aussie Christmas scene!

With sausages and coleslaw too
Then let us Barbeque.

Here are some words that are commonly used out here.

ta = thank you
drop your gear or take of your gear (I forget) = get naked
give it a go = try it
heaps = a lot
togs or bathers = bathing suit
icing sugar = powdered sugar
jelly = jello
aluminum is pronounced al-u-min-e-um
jaguar is pronounced jag-u-r
nissan is pronounced niss-an instead of nees-an
adidas is pronounced a-did-as instead of ad-eed-as
Kiwi- New Zealander
Yank-American
Pom- A person from England
cheers= thank you
skoal = pound your drink
toilet = bathroom
Arvo= afternoon
how you goin= how are you doing?
mate = friend (yes they say it all the time! I don't think they use friend here at all)
no worries = no problem
When you say thank you they say that's alright
stubby = bottle of beer
bottle shop = liguor store
Brekkie = breakfast
they always say have instead of take ex I need to have a shower or I need to have a sleep rather than I need to take a shower or go to sleep
Chewie = gum
Postie= mailman
firey= fireman
copper= cop
swag = sleeping bag
torch = flashlight
Fair dinkum = I have no clue but they say it sometimes and it never makes any sense
good on ya- good for you
icy pole or ice block = popsicle
beer coms in light, mid strenght and heavy and it describes amount of alcohol not the amount of calories, they don't have low calorie beers
root = sex
shagged = tired
Stuffed = tried or mistake, ex I'm stuffed or I stuffed that up
muck- mess up or mess around
Prezzie- Present
Sheila- woman
sunnies = sunglasses
whinge = complain whine
wanker = whiner
reckon is very popular
Bloke = man (used all the time)
afternoon tea = dinner
spit the dummy = got angry
grog = alcohol
crook= not feeling well
dear or exie= expensive

okay that's enough for now I'm getting bored with it.

Last week I went on a trip up the coast to a place called Noosa. It was one of the best couple of days I have had here.
Meribeth and I had met a couple of guys at the Police Departments Christmas party that we had gone to. We ended up hanging out with one of them again and he invited us to go up and hang out in Noosa with him for a couple of days. It just so happened that I had Tuesday night off, all day Wednesday, and Thursday day off. Meribeth had to work so she was not able to go. At first I was a little hesitant because I did not know this guy very well and I wasn't sure what we would be doing. After contemplating for a few minutes I figured what the hell, I'm always up for an adventure. (don't worry mom I make responsible decisions). So I packed my bag and waited for him to pick me up. Keeping in mind that I had no idea what we were actually going to be doing, I was pretty proud of myself for only having one small bag with me.
Luke showed up and I apologized for the messy room, and we headed down to his car and he apologized for his crappy car. So things worked out. He proceeded to tell me how nice his motorcycle was so he had no money left for his car. Good thing I'm not a superficial California girl, huh? Haha I really didn't care about the car but the lack of air conditioning made for a very hot hour and a half drive.
I was a little concerned about the car ride up there because he seemed to be a shy guy and although I for the most part have broken out of my shell, I can tend to be quiet in uncomfortable situations. It worked out though and we had a good conversation all the way up. Our conversation was mostly about the differences between the states (by the states I mean California) and Australia. Australians tend to believe that we have crazy people running around with guns at all times of the day and we run around scared for our lives. We talked quite a bit about that. for some reason the story about me being robbed at gunpoint at Togo's when I was 16 didn't really helped out my arguement...oh well.
We finally arrived and what a suprise, his friend is also a cop. They met at the police academy a few years back. This guy's name was Al (short for Allen) and he lived in Police dorms. I have never heard of cops having dorms before but they were actually small dorm like rooms with one communal area. They were right across the street from a police station and a fire station. Judging by the amount of activity around the stations, it's fair to say not much happens around there.
We went inside the dorms and luckily there was a spare room for us to stay in. Luke being the nice Australian boy that he is, let me have the bed and he slept on the air matress on the floor. We dropped off our stuff and hung out for a little while. I then had the pleasure of meeting one of the roommates. It wasn't too hard to tell that he wasn't a big fan of Americans. For the whole two days I was there, he turned everything anything said into an insult against Americans. I thought I was just looking into things a little too much until Luke said something later on. so needless to say I stopped talking to that guy!
Noosa is a small beach town pretty much within a National Park. Al told me that they sometimes have Pythons hanging out around the bottom of the house. I told him I might be a little afraid if I see a bug or animal. I guess I should have told him that I'm more than a little afraid, because I leaned over to look for a snake and right next to me these two little eyes were staring up at me. I jumped a mile and yelled what is that?!? Al walked over and said oh it's a tree frog. I tried to tell myself, oh just a frog that's okay. Then he grabbed the frog and started coming towards me, so once again the olympic runner in me came alive and I began to haul ass into the house making sure the screen closed behind me. Haha he couldn't believe that I was so afraid of a frog. As I'm running passed this baby tree frog I almost stepped on a big gigantic one. The frog was as scared as I was and he tried to jump away. Well I built up the courage to go back outside and Al actually got me to touch one of the frogs. So I can scratch running from frogs off my list because they seem to be okay.
Shortly after that we decided it was time to head out. The American hater gave us a ride into town so we could have a few drinks without worrying about driving. We sat down outside and ate dinner overlooking the beach. it was absolutley beautiful. The waves were crashing onto the beach and it sounded so peaceful and relaxing, it made for great atmosphere. I guess the beautiful sound of waves and water was no comparison to screeching voices and off key singers because we decided to relocate inside so we could hear karaoke.
We make our way inside and add a few more drinks to the table. The boys asked if I wanted some wine or a spritzer. Once I stopped laughing I told them they need to find new girls to hang out with and I ordered myself a rum and coke. Al and I sat down and shy quiet Luke came to the table holding the book of karaoke songs. He carried that book like a little boy opening a present on Christmas morning. You would have thought he was a rockstar or something...well until you heard him sing. Haha j/k Luke if you ever read this. Al and Luke went up and sang three songs (after a few shots) and I was the photographer who got it all on tape. We had a great time and laughed the night away. Since it was a Tuesday night the place closed at midnight so we headed off. As we were walking Al convinced me that all Australians hug gum trees out of respect for the koala bears and that if I wanted to visit and be with the locals I had to hug one as well. So Luke took a picture of me hugging a gum tree and Al is in the background laughing and pointing at me. Stupid American! Makes for a great picture though.
We headed to another bar only to have the lights turned on and last call yelled out. It was time to go home.
We hung out for a little while longer on the patio at the dorms and they showed me the southern cross in the sky. It is a constellation that can only be seen on the southern hemisphere.
The next morning we woke up and Al made us omelets. There was all kinds of stuff in that thing. I really am learning to eat new things here.
Shortly after breakfast we headed out to the river to jet ski. We had to stop and get an intertube so three people could all go out at one time. Al knew a guy that had a personal boat launch so we headed out to this house along the river to launch the jet ski.
The boys got the gas, picked out the intertube, hitched the jet ski to the car, and a few other things to get the jet ski going. I on the other hand watched it all. I was absolutely useless. So I took it upon myself to blow up the intertube. There were two peices to the intertube and a foot pump to blow it up. I felt very useful after that because I had to pump the damn thing up three times. How was I supposed to know the stars had to be lined up a certain way so that it all fit correctly? It gave the boys some time to play on the jet ski before we took it out with the intertube. The owner of the house came out to watch us head out. Something was said about sharks and the man said the biggest one he's heard about out here was about 7 feet long. After I realized I was the only one laughing I realized it wasn't a joke and thought twice about getting in the water.
They actually have bull sharks in their rivers everywhere. I still can't believe I went in. And yet even after hearing about the sharks I had this reoccuring image of going knee boarding in Mt. Shasta with Judy, and Jason had to jump in and get me because a fish touched my toe.
We launched the jet ski and I got in the intertube without barely getting into the water. We get out into the water and then the jet ski takes off, and... I didn't. The intertube had gotten lose and I Was floating in the middle of the river. Of course I'm floating there by myself right after I hear the shark story, so I refuse to get out of the intertube and swim to the jet ski. Luke had to jump off the ski and come rescue the intertube. I'm sure he appreciated that. We hooked up again...Well Luke hooked up again and we were on our way. We had a great time. I got used to being in the water, when I fell off the tube, as long as they rushed back to get me so it wasn't too bad. We all took turns and they let me drive a little bit and I rode on the back and got dumped off a few times. It took them quite a while to realized I wasn't some wussy little girl that they needed to drive 10 mph so I didn't get scared. Guess I didn't really prove that when I refused to get out of the intertube though...
After a few hours a friend of Al's came to join in the fun. Al took his friend on a ride and Luke and I hung out on the deck. I took the time to lay out and get a tan. Then the boys came and picked up Luke and I laid out and talked to mom on the phone. There were tons of blue and purple crabs hanging out on the rocks, so I decided I would film them with my camera. I was laying over the deck with my body half off trying to film these crabs under the rocks. I actually got a few good shots, but I couldn't help but think, give a tourist a camera and they'll stay busy for hours. Wow, do I have some pretty pointless pictures.
After about an hour they came back and had this great idea that all 4 of us should go out. By doing so, 2 people had to go on the 1 person intertube at one time. Al and his friend decided they would try first. I jokingly suggested to Luke that they should ride one on top of each other. Imagine my suprise when the first guy jumped on the tube and the second one jumped right on top of him. Again Australians obviously are not scared of looking gay. Dad, if I knew what sex was, this was looking pretty close. But hey they sure had a lot of fun.
After a little while they decided they had enough and I had to go on the tube. This was not too exciting to me but I did it anyways. It was actually much easier to hold on and there was a little more room than what it looked like. I rode with Al's friend at one time and he was about 6'2 and 180 so when he flew off I had no chance of staying on. His head came up and he head butted me right in the side of the head. Suprisingly, we both came up conscious and that was enough for us.
We headed back up and socialized with the owner of the house for a while. Of course the topic of conversation was about California. Shortly after, we thanked the guy and pakced up.
We headed for home because later that night we had a big trivia night ahead of us.
We got home and we were absolutely starving because we had not eaten all day. Al tried to talk me into liking vegemite. I told him it was awful and he said I just haven't committed to it so he made me a toasted cheese and vegemite sandwich. After trying it I actually hated it more than I did the first time. I tried it though, and I was proud of myself for giving it a chance, but wow that stuff shouldn't be legal to give people. It is just awful. It tastes like dirt. I'll be sure to bring some to try though so everyone can share in the run for water feeling you get when you bite into it.
Anyhow, we got ready to go in about 3 minutes which meant I had to go with wet hair and no make up. I'm not a very high maintenance girl but that was really not a fun way to go out. And believe me trivia night is a happening place to be on a Wednesday night. I really can't think of a better place to meet a guy than trivia night. Most of them can even get the senior citizen discount too!
So we head out to another restaraunt where Al's trivia group meets. Apparently, they have these clubs that sponsor trivia night. There is a man with a microphone and he yells out questions. Some of the questions you answer right away and some you have to write down and they pick a winner at the end.
We got there before anyone on his team got there so we sat down and ate dinner while people arrived. When I first sat down I thought it was just his table that was involved in trivia night. I was shocked when I realized the whole restaurant was there for trivia. That night happened to be their Christmas party and every table had a different theme. These crazy Australians, they sure know how to party. haha There were tables everywhere full of people with different themed costumes all ready to answer the most useless questions ever.
It began and the first question was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard and I turn around to say who in the world would know that, when the girl at our table shouted out the answer. She shut me up real quick. I decided not to give my input for a while. One of the questions happened to be about America and the whole table just stared at me all at once. Talk about pressure, these triva folks are just crazy. Somebody else even got the answer before me. Back to being useless for me! Luke and I managed to get a few prizes even though we didn't answer a single question.
We decided we were too tired to stay for drinks and we headed back to Al's house. We woke up in the morning and headed back home. so that was it. Back to Brisbane with a few more Australian memories and a very long journal entry topic.

There are two parts to the coast here on the East Coast of Australia. Up north past Brisbane is the Sunshine coast and South of Brisbane is the Gold coast. The sunshine coast is very quiet and calm. There are beautiful beaches that aren't real crowded and quiet little beach towns. It kind of reminds me of Monterey and Carmel.
The gold coast is the opposite. It is where the party towns are. The Gold coast is filled with kids and there are tons of people everywhere. It reminds me more of San Diego. the beaches are still beautiful and you can find beaches in places that aren't populated, but if you want to go and have fun and be with a lot of people, the gold coast is where you want to be.
We have toured both since we have had a car to borrow. Our first trip was up the Sunshine coast.
We drove up through the glasshouse mountains, which I'm still not really sure what they are, becuase they just look like huge rocks to me, like Half dome but not as pretty as half dome. But we still took the tourist route and went through it. the drive along the Sunshine coast is beautiful. There are trees everywhere and it's so quiet and peaceful. We went up to a small beach town which I will never be able to pronounce because they have the craziest names. It was something like mooloolaba. something crazy...Anyways, we went to a Mexican food place which was pretty nice considering they don't have Mexican's here. We continued up to Noosa and drove around the beaches. It was beautiful. didn't really see much wildlife other than birds but it was still a pretty drive.
The beaches in the Sunshine coast have more jellyfish and other animals you don't want to be in contact with then the gold coast.
A few days ago Meribeth and I did a drive down the Gold Coast to Nimbin. Nimbin is about a 2 hour drive. So we headed off towards Byron Bay first which is a small beach town where tons of backpackers go and stay. It is beautiful and a lot of fun. We stopped off there looked around and got directions to nimbin. As we were driving to Nimbin we stopped off at a small secluded beach and looked around to take pictures. Meribeth had here bathing suit on so she walked through the water to take pictures. She saw something neon blue and bent over to pick it up thinking it was trash and it was a giant blue jellyfish.
It was her turn to run for her life. She screamed and ran so I started to run too because if she's afraid then I'm definitely going to be afraid. So she keeps running and I am yelling what is it what is it. So she yells that it was a big jellyfish and so we start to wonder of course, is it the one that can kill us. so we head back over on the rocks this time and take pictures of it. It was really cool. it was huge and almost glowing in the water. We took a ton of pictures and then a few of the sand crabs while we were at it.
After that we took off toward Nimbin, missed our turn of course, so we had to go the round about way. We finally got to Nimbin, a little late so a lot of it was closed. Nimbin is this crazy small hippy town in the middle of nowhere. It is notorious for marijuana. you can smell it as you walk, they have a hemp bar, which is where you can just go smoke in a bar. All the buildings are painted and there are signs posted everywhere of protesting and things like that. Of course there are a few signs about how much they hate Bush. That can be expected. We walked throught the Nimbin museum,which was just crazy. haha it was definitely a good experience. the place is crazier than humboldt. I can't imagine living in the 60's.
so we decided to go home and man did we go the wrong way again. We ended up on this small road, that was barely paved and there were wooden bridges going over creeks. There was not another person in site. So it took us al ittle longer to get home, we saw peacock, a dead kangaroo on the side of the road, and tons of birds of course. but nothing else too exciting. The jelly fish was definitely the highlight of the day.

the culture here is different from the U.S. There's not really a way to describe it, but I'm going to try.

Meribeth and I have been noticing that as a culture here, well the younger culture anyways, it is more feminized here than in the states. It is very European.
We were out at a bar/club one night hanging out watching people dance. Guys are so much different over here. There were a bunch of guys out on the dance floor dancing and doing all these weird girly moves. There were barely and girls on the dance floor, guys were dancing around together in groups. I have never seen anything like it in the states. not the way these guys were dancing anyways. Guys here just aren't afraid to look gay I guess.
Their haircuts are absolutely ridiculous here. not all, but some. guys have fo hawks, which are little mohawks down the middle of their hair. Guys in America do it too, but they look so much more feminie here than they do in the states. Some even have a like a blond fo hawk down the middle and then brown hair everywhere else, or the other way around. Some guys hae little tails. It just looks ridiculous. I don't know if it just because I am accustomed to normal haircuts or what but I hate it.
So in my opinion guys are a little bit more feminine here than in America. Not all, there are some stereotypical Australians, that only drink beer and eat kangaroos. most of the guys i have met and actually associate with have been in the middle, like Americans. But there are quite a few guys with girly haircuts and funny clothes.
The girls here are pretty typical I guess, but it doesnt' seem like very many of them are into sports. One guy I work with started laughing and he came over to me and said that group of girls is talking about going to a cricket game. I was like ya what's so funny. he was shocked that a bunch of girls were into sports. It's funny.
The typical person here is not into politics or anythign at all like that. Most of them don't even realize they have troops in Iraq or anywhere else. but I gues you can say a lot of Americans are like that as well.
Well I had a ton of things to say, but of course when I go to write I can't think of any, so I'll leave it at that.