tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74535115422102152232024-03-04T21:56:08.413-08:00Leslie-Peterson Australian Adventure!Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-32572090555838047012015-01-30T21:36:00.003-08:002015-01-31T14:16:48.056-08:002014 and then some...and an early Happy Easter 2015 from the Leslie-PetersonsGreetings from Canberra, 2015!<br />
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Looks like we are morphing into the biannual shout-out, but hey, whatchagonnado? :)<br />
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We are fast approaching 4 years here in Australia, hard as that is for us to believe. A college education could have been had in the time we have been here. And I suppose we have all received at least that in terms of international relocation life lessons!<br />
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2013 saw us enjoying Canberra's 100th anniversary as a city. Stuff like that reinforces how young Australia is as a country compared to the USA. Canberra threw itself a year-long party with lots of different cultural events and fireworks. Lots of fireworks.<br />
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Other highlights in 2013 included a trip to Bali of all places. While it is still the ever-so-exotic locale for us US expats, it is quite common for Australians to vacation here--and for those living on the East coast of Australia, just a bit farther to get to than a trip to Perth. Quite a gorgeous part of the world, but a culture definitely caught in the "tourist trap." As tourists, we want to see people working in the famed rice paddies, never mind that it is back-breaking work. So tourism is the way of the future for the Balinese, which inevitably undermines the very culture us foreigners are interested in exploring. Never mind the pollution that comes with "progress." We enjoyed ourselves despite the moral questions I asked myself, staying in a nice Hyatt resort with more beach chairs than I could have sat in had I been there a year.<br />
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Mika has continued her rowing career, to good effect in 2013 - 2014, winning the Most Improved Rower for the Capitol Lakes Rowing Club at the end of the season. </div>
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Kirsten also entered into the rowing fray, along with other parents, completing a learn to row program in 2013. It has been a great experience, really testing the adage around old dogs learning new tricks. I have graced (been unceremoniously dunked into :)) Lake Burley Griffin with my presence at least 10 times.</div>
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Dan has been kept busy with work. His company, "General Practice Education and Training" (GPET for short) was unceremoniously absorbed into the government as part of the Department of Health in mid-2014. It was touch and go for a few months as to whether Dan, as a non-citizen, would be retained in the new configuration but in the end, he was one of two non-citizens to be kept on. </div>
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Mid 2013, Dad reconnected with the woman he dated before he met Wanda, my mother, and they reunited in September after 60 (yes, that's not a typo!) years. Amy is a wonderful match for Dad and they have been spending a fair bit of time together ever since. Amy lives in Arizona, which has meant a lot of transcontinental travel for Dad. This is a picture of them when Amy visited Dad in NJ.</div>
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They have been an "item" ever since.</div>
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Mika continued other aspects of her sporting career in 2013 - 2014, including soccer and field hockey. We enjoyed being field hockey spectators in the national field hockey venue in Canberra which features padded seating with cup holders...way better than the lawn chair action at the soccer fields. Below shows her in her solo outing as goalie:</div>
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Kirsten continued her work travel with the Australian Women's Water Polo Team. 2013 saw her in China, then on a World Championship Tour that included Hungary, then training in Bilbao Spain, followed by the competition in Barcelona. </div>
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After an improbable run of losing training games, the Australian team came storming back at Worlds to take the Silver. A truly impressive showing and a lot of fun!<br />
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2014 had Kirsten again on the road with the team, travelling again to China, then to the World Cup in Khanty-Mansisk, a city in the Siberian region of Russia. Again the Australians played well, taking another second place. USA, as it happens, is the team to beat.</div>
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A 2014 highlight for our family was getting to spend time on the Great Barrier Reef, a big tick on the bucket list. In anticipation of the trip, Kirsten and Mika became certified in scuba, which was an adventure all in itself. The process included a rigorous 8 hour online course, then a weekend on the coast (in the middle of the winter yet) acquiring the actual scuba skills. This included demonstrating swimming skills, then learning and donning all the equipment, pool diving and finally some shore-based ocean dive to demonstrate competency in skills such as clearing your mask of water, and proper descent and ascent processes. Turns out that walking in fins, on sand, is not one of KP's talents. She ended up falling backward--butt-first--on the beach, and crawling, crab-like into the water. :) Here's a pic of Mika on our last morning of certification. Note Mika's jumper--it was cold on the coast in June!</div>
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From Canberra, we headed to Port Douglas, a popular Barrier Reef jumping off point. The beach there, appropriately named "Four Mile Beach" is wide as a highway and firm enough for bike riding. Below, KP is wearing a lovely walking boot as punishment for "rehabbing" a strained foot tendon into a tear earlier in the year.</div>
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We visited the Reef itself twice during our time there. The first time was a solo trip for KP and Mika so we could both take advantage of our newly acquired scuba skills. The second trip was with Dan; Mika scuba-ed on her own while Dan and KP snorkeled.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAAWVCmIS9SCCjwZZxF0XikZ-XlCeEn4vofRupKtwewsqsNLiTRan3uq2rH92R8lyUxNtZ0vCMzey8JAQHQ13S6RwvG-OLA-1IjE2S6QvKsEFtbx9odTXetI6Pu8SpuvS6p6BfczDybyOL/s1600/MikaScuba1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAAWVCmIS9SCCjwZZxF0XikZ-XlCeEn4vofRupKtwewsqsNLiTRan3uq2rH92R8lyUxNtZ0vCMzey8JAQHQ13S6RwvG-OLA-1IjE2S6QvKsEFtbx9odTXetI6Pu8SpuvS6p6BfczDybyOL/s1600/MikaScuba1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's Mika getting suited up in lower LH corner</td></tr>
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September brought Mika's much anticipated World Challenge trip to Borneo. The trip, organized via an experienced adventure trip outfitter, saw Mika and about a dozen of her classmates raise money and make plans for the better part of a year. Here's a pic of Mika with her closest friends on the trip at the send-off:<br />
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The trip was part adventure (while there were adult supervisors on the trip, the itinerary was planned and managed by the students), part social action, part education. Mika took on part-time work at a local big box store and paid for half the cost of her trip, with enough left over to buy herself a GoPro camera, which was put to extremely hard use! To see the fruits of her GoPro labors, here's a link to her music video summarizing the trip:<br />
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https://vimeo.com/110466777<br />
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November brought us once again to moving day, move #4 since we have left the USA. After months of open house viewings and one disasterous attempt to buy a house at auction (within 30 seconds of the start of bidding, the sale price zoomed 80K over our ceiling), we reluctantly concluded that we could not yet afford to buy the kind of house in the location we wanted, We instead settled on another rental house, this one fortuitously located next door to one of Mika's good friends. and closer to Dan's new workplace in south Canberra. KP has decided that experience does not pay off much in moving, in that each one is uniquely horrifying. Our new house has most of the living space on the second floor, which caused the movers no end of grief. After 40 agonizing minutes, for example, they were able to ease our refrigerator up the stairs and slide it into the allotted niche in the kitchen, only for Dan to discover, upon firing it up, that the refrig was incompatible with the house's electrical system and quickly shorted out, rendering it little better than a big white bookcase. After a few weeks of that and other growing pains--and a brand new refrigerator!--we are happily settled in.<br />
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Dad/Grandpa/Rob arrived for his annual migration to the Land Down Under in early December almost, but not quite in time for Mika's graduation from high school (poor man missed his overseas flight and came in a day late). In Canberra, the last two years of what most of us would call high school are here termed "college" and Mika will be transitioning from Telopea Park School to nearby Narrabundah College for years 11 and 12.<br />
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As part of the many transitions associated with this time, Mika attended her first formal. Getting "formal ready," especially for a sporty girl, meant many new experiences including learning how to don make-up, and shopping for the perfect dress, clutch, and high heel shoes. At the end of the process, Mika stood a staggering 14cm taller than she is in bare feet!<br />
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So, apparently the tradition for these events is in how one chooses to "arrive" at the event, sorta kinda like pulling up in your limo at the Oscars, right? Mika and her friends who all row, got the bright idea to decorate up one of the rowing trailers and arrive "float style." Note Mika's graceful disembarkation style AND THOSE SHOES! KP felt like a real part of the paparazzi, grabbing these shots while elbowing her way through the throngs of parents ogling students' arrivals.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disembarking--it is all about the shoes.</td></tr>
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So, after all the excitement of Mika's high school farewells and formals (and I will not even go into the after-formal-party!), we all felt the need for a break, so off to the coast we went for a week at Malua Bay. Initially, we could only allow Mika to bring along one friend due to space limitations in our Subaru Impreza, but Grandpa came to the rescue. As a graduation present to Mika, he rented a second car which allowed several more friends to join the party. It was a glorious week, though we quickly learned about the quantities of food needed to keep that many more girls happy!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mika, Beck, Sophia, and Lily pile-up</td></tr>
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What became immensely amusing was how the girls all took to Grandpa. What follows is a series of pictures where he was as game to pose-upon-demand as any cocky 15-16 year old girl. Mika went on to convince Grandpa that he "needed" his own Facebook page and they had a ball setting it up. Make sure to "friend" Robert Peterson, retired CEO of Unnamed Company, Mount Arlington, NJ.<br />
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As I write this final paragraph, it is nigh onto February 2015. Any more procrastination and we will be ringing in 2016 and then some! For those who have persevered to the end, you have my thanks and admiration, and our family's best wishes to you and yours.<br />
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Cheers, Dan, Kirsten, Mika, and our cat, Angel.Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-63626431377205736732012-12-31T21:52:00.001-08:002012-12-31T21:52:09.069-08:00Happy New Year and a Look Back at 2012Well, it turns out that I (KP) am as bad a consistent blogger as I am a consistent pen-pal, so at least some things never change. :) But perhaps I can commit--since it's New Year's Day and all--to at least quarterly updates of our lives here in OZ for 2013. We'll see how that goes!!<br />
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In the meantime, here's what's been happening with the Leslie-Peterson family in 2012.<br />
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<b>January. </b> Having just procured a new rental to move to (our first home was being sold), we spent most of our holiday break packing up for the transition, but found time over the new year period to visit Jindabyne--a town that in Aussie winters passes for their version of, say, Dillon, CO. Higher altitude and beautiful lakes. Mika wanted to climb Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, which stands at 2228m above sea level, just so she could say she did, so off we went. Here we are, having scaled the summit.<br />
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Almost immediately post-house-move, Kirsten's Dad arrived from the US for his first-ever visit to Australia. We took off for a Grand Road Trip to Melbourne to, among other things, see the Australian Open Tennis Tournament. Dad was a great car passenger, eschewing technology such as GPSs for the old-fashioned map and providing interesting details of our trip along the way, while never once asking to take the wheel, which I know was a sacrifice for him. :) We were taken good care of by our friends, the Parker-Simmons family who lent us the use of their "beach shack" (their term, not mine) on the Mornington Peninsula for the duration of our stay.</div>
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Mika with styling sun protection and KP at the Open.</div>
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Mika managed to brow-beat a signature from Novak Djokovic, the eventual winner of the tournament on one of those over-sized autograph balls. Ebay profits were discussed, but not followed-up on. :)</div>
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After our day at the Open, Dan, KP, and Dad walked to a yonder cafe on the Yarra River. A thoroughly enjoyable day.</div>
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Road Trip #2 was to Darling Harbor, Sydney for a long weekend. We toured the Sydney Opera House and sailed the harbor on a tall-masted ship.</div>
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Mika and KP were allowed to climb into the rigging of the ship (for a fee, of course)...great views!</div>
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<b>February. </b> The month brought Dad's departure back to the US and back to school for Mika. Bummers, both of them. It also brought, on the bright side, Mika's 13th birthday, which we celebrated with a Masterchef inspired cooking competition party. </div>
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Here are the members of Mika's team enjoying a well-deserved break from their cooking duties on Mika's birthday present, a trampoline.</div>
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Note the tape across the kitchen island, separating the teams, who both performed well beyond the expectations of judges (that would be Dan and KP). We had the foresight to including clean-up of the kitchen as part of the judging criteria and I kid you not when I say that the kitchen has never been so clean. Got to love those Aussie girls!!</div>
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With <b>March</b> came the official arrival of fall--a phenomenon I just can't get used to. I still reflexively think that March is spring and September is fall, darn it! Work for KP was shifting into high pre-Olympic gear, while Dan was increasingly finding his footing with promotions and added responsibilities at his work.</div>
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<b>April.</b> Easter brought a visit from the Parker-Simmons clan who were able to wring just about every ounce of fun there is to have in Canberra. Susie, Jeff, KP and Dan made a point of hiking all of our local mountains/hills, we museumed, toured local nature preserves, and ate well. Risk was also played. :) All freaking weekend! </div>
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Later in the month, we took a shortish family vacation to the Sunshine Coast hamlet of Noosa, about 2 hours north of Brisbane. After what turned out to have been one of the rainiest summers Canberra has had in recent memory (complete with significant local flooding), it was great to have some warm and sunny beach time. Mika and KP had our first surfing lessons, which was great fun--more than I expected! So much so that we rented boards for a second afternoon of extra training. Speaking only for myself--Mika was much more successful at this--it took me so freakin' long to get up on the board that by the time I did, I could have waded through the surf faster than the board was travelling. Thank god the pics are stills and not video...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZT3cD2V1SgLKllVz80TivLwGkjmbaZdlbMaN0uWMgo5fWZPO3TWC_Xj-ytVdkZnouDaCHsUwk7eq9mx8_8XMhf5YTSzMEPW5y4NS1RGhW5iaqcaETFQs1VGgztvyWb-ecquMEbhq527h9/s1600/MikaSurf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZT3cD2V1SgLKllVz80TivLwGkjmbaZdlbMaN0uWMgo5fWZPO3TWC_Xj-ytVdkZnouDaCHsUwk7eq9mx8_8XMhf5YTSzMEPW5y4NS1RGhW5iaqcaETFQs1VGgztvyWb-ecquMEbhq527h9/s320/MikaSurf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>May.</b> Fall was in full-force now. Mika's semester school load included a class in cooking. She'd always been interesting in cooking anything that was sweet, but has honed her skills in savory dishes as well. Here she is showcasing a frittata which Dan and KP had to grade as part of her assignment. Extremely delicious!</div>
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<b>June</b> brought the start of KP's summer (as in European summer, that is) travels with sports. She spent two weeks with the Australian Olympic Rowing team in Lucerne, Switzerland. Befriended by the lone female coach for the team (who happens to be Canadian and thus we bonded over mutual issues of family transitions to a different country), KP had a wonderful time both personally and professionally, getting to know the team and enjoying touring the area on off-time.</div>
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On the heels of one of KP's trips, she was able to swing a day in Shanghai before heading back to Canberra to visit with Toni Barton, a friend of ours from Colorado Springs. Toni's family had spent the previous year living in Shanghai, so it was a great way to see the city through the eyes of a pseudo native. We walked a lot and booked in for some wonderful and cheap massages!</div>
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<b>July-August. </b> Big trip for Mika and Dan to Borneo for a friendly soccer tournament featuring Mika's soccer team. See the earlier blog entry written by Mika for more details of this exciting trip. Dan enjoyed the trip as well, since the girls all entertained themselves almost constantly, he had lots of good adult time with other parents along for the trip.</div>
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July also heralded KP's pre-Olympic and Olympic trip to Italy and London with the Australian Women's Water Polo Team and Rowing Team. The Australian Institute of Sport has built their own European Training Center in the northern Italian town of Varese. Both teams conveniently (for KP) staged their pre-Olympic training camps there, so she was able to spend time with both teams at the same time. It was busy, but in a beautiful setting complete with nightly runs to yonder gelato shop, not much to complain about! :) The picture below is from a cable car going up the side of the mountain overlooking the town of Porto Ceresio.</div>
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After two weeks in Italy, we headed to London. The Australian Olympic Committee issued standard gear for all to wear upon their arrival to London, and I must say that it was pretty awe inspiring to arrive as part of the Australian Rowing Team, who number over 50 in total.</div>
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KP spent the first week of the Olympics with the Rowing Team, housed in a satellite village about 30 miles from London, since their venue was the Eton rowing course. Since their competition commenced the day after Opening Ceremonies, the rowing team elected not to travel to London for the Big Show, but staged our own mini-Opening Ceremony in our own digs. Here is KP dressed to the nines in the team's official opening ceremony gear. With her was the other American on the team, the coach of the men's eight.</div>
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Once we finished marching around, the team's alternates staged what has become a tradition, creating the team's own opening ceremonies entertainment segment. In this picture, they are enacting what I can only describe as an above water synchronized swimming routine. And let me just say that other countries were really jealous of their ingenuity!!</div>
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KP's first Olympics with a non-US team was a bit surreal. Once in the main Olympic Village, she actually knew more people on the US team than on the Australian team! Here, I run into the US Women's Wrestling coach and one of the US athletes, Clarissa Chun, who would go on to win bronze.</div>
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The second week of the OIympics was with the women's water polo team, who went on to win bronze after a heart-stopping series of games that added years to my life. Here is the team in the locker room, celebrating their victory before ascending the medal podium. Australians know how to celebrate a win...they had enough booze to also cheerfully share some with the US team who had won the gold medal!</div>
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And finally, for those Wallace and Gromit fans out there...one of the cheese selections in the Village cafeteria (look sharp at label on the right).</div>
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<b>September. </b> After a short post-Olympic respite, we enjoyed the early spring with the annual Floriade festival in Canberra (if you recall from previous blogs, the annual fest-o-flowers held yearly here) and local wildlife viewing. In the other notable sports news of the year, Mika enjoyed a successful second season with her Majura Football Club team, and was elected "Players' Player" by her teammates at the conclusion of the season.</div>
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<b>October</b> brought the annual migration of KP and Mika back to the US. This time, Mika detoured on her own to Colorado to catch up with the Putz family AND act as a ringer foreign player on Grace Putz's soccer team for a tournament in Vail, CO. Here is a picture of Grace and Mika...</div>
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Meanwhile, KP was attending a professional conference in Atlanta, GA, then both KP and Mika flew to NJ to join up with the rest of the Peterson-Ward clan for a week of family vacation. We took the train into NYC for a few days with Aunt Laura Larson and Uncle Jack Cage, visiting Times Square (several times for both night and day viewing), the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial, and buying literally pounds of US-unique candy to keep Mika in sugared-up heaven for, well, a few weeks at least.</div>
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Once back in NJ, we had some great family visiting time with Mika's grandfather, cousins Tucker and Cooper as well as her Aunt Zoe and Uncle Todd. We got in our autumn season "fix" with a visit to the local corn maze which KP had thought would be a bit of hokey country fun, but ended up taking almost an hour of bewildering twists and turns to extricate ourselves from!!</div>
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<b>November</b> brought real signs of spring to Canberra, and some beautiful flowers to our yard. We also heralded the long-awaited arrival of chickens to our backyard coop! It is all the rage in Australia to have your own "chooks" as they are called here, along with the nutritional value of locally sourced eggs. </div>
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Below, Mika "welcomes" the chickens into the newly refurbished chook house in our backyard. </div>
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Within our first few weeks of chook ownership, I was happy to find our first actual egg! All were shocked and stunned. :)</div>
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<b>December. </b> The end of the year brought on high summer, KP's long awaited hires to complete her AIS staff team, KP's father's second trip Down Under, and the start of our Family Holiday Vacation (with Zoe, Todd and their family) to Tasmania and Torquay/Great Ocean Road area of south Australia.</div>
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Our trip started with a reprise of Dad's first road trip with us, from Canberra to Melbourne to catch the car ferry to Devonport, Tasmania. Not before, however, KP left her purse in a rest stop in Gundagai (home of the aforementioned Dog on a Tuckerbox statue, but alas, I digress). Grandpa and Dan were efficiently installed in the bucolic town of Beechworth (our intended overnight stay) while KP and Mika sped back the 120K to try to reclaim KP's purse, phone, and wallet. The holiday spirit did not disappoint, and the purse was recovered. Whew!! Below, we sit at the (I kid you not) Best Bakery in Australia, the Beechworth Bakery.</div>
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After a night in Beechworth, we continued our trek to the ferry, Spirit of Tasmamia, for our overnight voyage to Tassie.</div>
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From Devonport, we traversed the length of the state just in time to meet up with the Ward family at the Hobart airport who had jetted in from their arrival point of Melbourne. We then set up housekeeping at our Clifton Beach holiday digs, about 20 minutes outside Hobart. The house had, on one side, a lagoon, and on the other, the ocean--a beautiful location. We did our fair share of touring: Port Arthur (preserved compound that illustrates the convict past of the area), beautiful ocean vistas, surf lessons, sea-kayaking around Coles Bay, browsing the famous Salamanca Markets in Hobart, as well as the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) which had something for everyone...or not, depending on your taste for in-your-face modern art. Wonderful family meals rounded out the end of each day as well as lots of board games and hikes through the local bushland. We procured a Christmas tree and decorated it with seashells, and had a low-key celebration on the day, capped with a family-produced dinner (kids outdid themselves with both fudge and mud pie for dessert!).</div>
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Kids on Clifton Beach</div>
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Kids in leg irons at Port Arthur</div>
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Zoe doing the "pose" at the head of the Remarkable Falls</div>
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Kids being appropriately "arty" outside the MONA museum</div>
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Dan with one of our guides, Matt, during our sea kayaking adventure</div>
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The tree. And Zoe.</div>
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Boxing Day had us transitioning back to the Australian mainland, some by sea, some by air. We reconvened in the town of Torquay, the beginning of the 200+km Great Ocean Road. On the day we "did the road" or about 120K which was as much of the curves as we could collectively stomach, we found a stretch full of koalas in the trees--a rarer sight than you might think in Australia. It was our family's first in-the-wild sighting of these cool creatures. In one memorable interlude, we were all treated to the sight of one koala descending from the tree in front of us and bounding into the forest. Amazing.</div>
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And what a fitting way to end this missive! Dan thinks it's pretty narcissistic to have included so much, but KP's feeling is that there was a lot of ground to make up on. You be the judge. Happy New Year and we look forward to catching up with you all in the new year!</div>
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Cheers, Dan, Kirsten, and Mika</div>
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Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-47871071319241437202012-07-20T06:29:00.000-07:002012-07-20T06:29:45.467-07:00Borneo!A few days ago me and my dad got back from a soccer tour in Borneo. It was an amazing experience. We left on July 6, the last day of school for me, which I got to miss. From Dickson College we picked up a bus, and rode with the rest of the team to Sydney, which took about 2 and a half hours I think. For most of that bus ride my fellow team mates had music blasting out of their ipods, as we lounged across the 6 or 7 rows of seats in the back of the bus. I have no idea what the parents were doing. Probably sitting, possibly talking politely, in their little seats up the front of the bus.
When we got to the Sydney airport, we got through security and customs and all of the other airport lines fairly quickly. Then we waited in a lounge thing for an hour or so, where I discovered that I had accidently left my ipad on in my backpack, and frantically plugged it in, hoping I could at least get it above 11% power for the next 8 hour flight. By the time we left, it was at 19%. woo hoo. Just for the record, I did not even take the ipad out of my bag for the next 8 hours (I think it might have actually been 10 hours…). That plane was AWESOME!!!!
It was one of those planes with the little televisions in front of everyone’s seat, and it also had a little remote in the armrest for everyone. With this remote you could choose to watch movies, television shows, listen to music, and play games! I watched the Hunger Games, The Lorax, The Big Bang Theory (Awesome show), The Simpsons, and played games. It was very entertaining. It was made better by the fact that I was surrounded by 40 people I knew, most of which were my friends. Plane flights can be sooo entertaining if you’ve got 14 other friends your age to talk to.
Once we got to Kuala Lumpur, we had another long wait, in a much less modern airport. We spent most of the time playing cards in the little gate on the side of a long hallway. The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu was 2 hours, and most of us slept for the whole time. I did. We did get very excited when we started descending, because it meant we were in Borneo, and that this long awaited holiday had finally begun. When we touched down, everything was a blur from getting out of the airport with our luggage, and going to the hotel. I for one, was very excited when we got our room keys, and were able to go up to see our rooms. We stayed in the Pacific Sutera Hotel, a part of the larger Sutera Harbour Resort (5 star). Unfortunately, most of our rooms were very far apart. We were room 752, and some of the other girls had rooms on floor 3. It was still very fun. Our room consisted of 2 single beds, and a small portable bed. There was a large bathroom, a small fridge, and a desk with a TV. I stayed with two of the other girls, Eilis and Grace.
The next day, there was nothing that we had to do, so we spent almost the entire day at the pool. There were at least three pools that we discovered, although most of us only went in two of them. The first was a shallow pool, just next to our hotel. It was next to a pool bar, which had stools in the water where you could order drinks, which was very cool.
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We spent ages in that pool, and no one seemed to care what we did, so we played around a lot in ways that would probably be against the rules in Australia. The other pool we went to had slides, although they were quite slow, and there were lots of rules preventing anything very fun from happening. There was also a little waterfall in the corner that you could swim under.<br />
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The next day we had futsal, and it was very hot. We played in three different teams, just against each other, and it was pretty fun. Still, it was really hot.
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After we finished we went into the changerooms, and the showers were disgusting. we all went in though, just to wash off. After that, we went to lunch at a restaurant called Little Italy, which everyone decided was their favourite restaurant.<br />
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We went to a wildlife reserve after lunch, which turned out to be more like a zoo. And the orangtan exhibit was closed, so we didn’t get to see any orangutans in Borneo. We did get to see lot’s of other interesting animals though, like the <a href="http://www.proboscismonkey.org/">Proboscis Monkey</a>.
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When we finished with that, we went to the beach for a dinner party thing. We spent a few hours on the beach, which was very pretty, before we had dinner.
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We stayed until 7:30 or so, before heading back to the hotel. When we got back, almost everyone changed into swimmers and jumped in the pool. We did that almost every night we could.<br />
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<span class="s1">The next three days were basically the same, with leisure (pool) time in the morning, and a soccer game in the afternoon. We played two different Malaysian teams the first two days. It was interesting playing with them, and we did beat them. The first day it was really hot, and the girls change rooms at that place didn’t even have showers, so we had to use the boys change rooms. Apparently the parents had to stop quite a few men walking in while we were in there. </span></div>
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The next day, we played in this huge stadium, which was really cool, and the change rooms were huge, and really nice. We played a team there, but we had to stop before the game was supposed to end because it had started to lightning. It was nice playing in the rain though. We all gathered in the tunnel, and ended up spending at least half an hour talking to the other team. It turns out they were actually 15-16s, not 13s. That was pretty cool, because they were shorter than us. They spoke quite good english, and they kept asking us what we ate. 

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<span class="s1">The third soccer day, we played the same team we played first, but we mixed up the teams. It was cool playing with Malaysian girls, although they had so many players, we had to spend a long time on the bench because there were so many subs. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">The next day was one of the best, when we went to an island resort and did a bunch of activities. Well, we were supposed to do a bunch, but most of us ended up only doing banana boating. I went with the first group, and it was really fun. The banana boat was a huge inflatable thing that got pulled around behind a speed boat. We asked to capsize, so he took us around so many turns where we could barely hold on, before the banana boat finally tipped. It was really fun! </span></div>
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<span class="s1">When we got back to the island we learned that it had got too windy for anyone else to go parasailing, which was another of the activities we were all very excited to do, and only one of us got to do it. Apparently there was another call to go banana boating, which I missed, and they went out again later that day. I really wish I could have gone, because most of them got to go another 3 or 4 times, and their driver was crazy, so he let them do all sorts of fun stuff on it. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">The next day we had to get up very early to go into the mountains. First we went to a war memorial, and then to a hike. The hike was really cool, because part of it was a canopy walk. The canopy walk was a plank of wood, supported by nets, way up high in the trees. You couldn’t even see the ground!</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It was so fun. It was pretty short though. We were supposed to go to the hot springs after that, but they smelled gross, and we were all hot anyway, so we all decided not to. We did go in the pool when we got back to the hotel though. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">My favourite day, was the next day when we went white water rafting. Unlike most of my team mates I had been before, but this trip was definitely my favourite. It was only grade two or something, so not very hard rapids, but the drivers were awesome. I was in one of the two ‘Extreme boats’, meaning we wanted to capsize in the river. It was soooo fun. We hit so many rocks. We would be speeding down, and then realize that we were heading straight for the rock wall on the side of the stream, then BAM, we would hit it and all fall off of our seats into the middle of the boat. I’m sure the instructor did it on purpose, and it was really fun. (You could never do that anywhere else). Once again though, I was on the wrong boat. The other extreme boat got a guy named Buster, and they did so much stuff. They hit all the rocks too, but their guy was actually successful at capsizing them… 3 times. Our instructor was only able to capsize us by getting us all to sit on the same side, and pulling the boat over. It was still really fun. And we saw a water buffalo on the bank at one point. When the water was calm, we all would jump out into the water and swim around. At the end, there was like 5 minutes of calm water, and we made the most of it. Our instructor took our oars, and we had a wrestling competition to throw each other off the boat. It was really fun. The other extreme boat capsized one last time, and they sat on the upside down boat until the end. It was reallly fun!!!!!!!!!!!</span></div>
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<span class="s1">My dad’s boat was one of the boring ones, and they didn’t run into anything.</span>That night, we went to a soccer game. It was Sabah FC vs another Malaysian team. They played in one of the stadiums we played at earlier in the week, and it was really cool seeing pro’s playing on the same field as us. Me and some of the other girls bought these horns for about $1.50, and they were really cool. I still have mine. The game was really good, and Sabah had their first win for ages, 3-0. </div>
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<span class="s1">The last day, we finally got to go parasailing, and it was AMAZING!!!! I went up with Rhian, another one of the girls. There were two other pairs on our boat and we went last. It costed $30. One thing I found funny, and kind of scary, is that when we went up to go, all they told us was to bend our legs when they started letting out the rope, and we took off. Zero safety instructions. It was cool, but scary. It felt like we were just sitting on the strap, and I’m not sure what would’ve happened if I leaned forward of backward. I didn’t want to test it. It was amazing. We got so high, and then we would drop down and skim the water. SOOOOOO FUN!!!! I want to do it again… </span></div>
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<span class="s1">After that adventure, we took the bus into the city, and went shopping. Most of the girls went to the mall, but I went to the markets. It was cool. I bought quite a few things, since my dad took out way too much money from the ATM. After that, we went for lunch at Little Italy again, went back to the hotel to get our things, and left. :( It was very sad. I was awake for the first flight, but on the second one, the really cool one with all the movies, I felt sick, and slept most of the flight. When we got to Sydney, we had to wait ages in the foreign passport line. When we finally got through we saw a few of the other people. There were only 4 girls catching the bus back to Canberra, as all the others were either flying home, or had gone somewhere else from Borneo for a longer holiday. Us girls didn’t even get to sit together on the 2 hour bus ride, because we were among the last people to get on, so we had to find any spare seats we could. I was very sad. And cold. It was very warm in Borneo for the entire time. I’m still cold. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">It was the best trip ever!!!</span></div>
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<span class="s1">For pictures, you can check out my facebook page. I got facebook :)</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span></div>Mikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536806563924258032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-8959319812957437872011-09-26T03:10:00.000-07:002011-09-26T03:10:04.556-07:00Digging in....and FloriadeDigging in...<br />
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First it was the two-year lease deal we signed for our car. More recently, it was the two-year cell phone contract we entered into for...dare I say it...Mika?? It feels like the web of life is slowly but surely tying us down as actual and bona fide residents of Australia. I am not saying that our time here will be dictated by the length of our technology contracts...but every time we sign on the dotted line, we do so with an intake of breath.<br />
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So...why does our darling daughter need a cell phone, you ask? (This would be called "burying the lead" by my editor friend Laura Larson.) Dan has recently joined the ranks of the duly and gainfully employed! I will allow him to expound at his blog-writing leisure upon the details of the job, but suffice it to say that it is full-time, in the IT field, and allows him some outside intellectual stimulation as well as augmenting our travel budget something fierce!! On the other hand, however, this development has exponentially increased the family's logistical challenges as we try to juggle three schedules while remaining--for the moment anyway--a one-car family. Mika was buoyed to no end by the twin lures of her own cell phone AND the chance to be a latch-key kid. So off we went to yonder mall to spend a horrifying four hours attempting to decode the incomprehensible code that is the average cell phone plan and actually sign on the dreaded contractual dotted line. She has been good at texting us upon her arrival home--the texting lingo she has already managed to acquire is staggering, may I add.<br />
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For now, Dan and I carpool to our respective work sites and we're all getting a taste of the actually-pretty-good public bus system. Mika's school term break is fast approaching, however, without a plan in sight...I may be putting her to work for the good of the AIS. <br />
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...and Floriade<br />
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....which looks like Florida misspelled by a second grader, but in Canberra, nuthin says "Spring!!" like Floriade. My apologies in advance to those readers who may know more about this event, but my research into the origins and duration of this Canberra spring institution is sketchy at best. It was going on last year during the time we were in Canberra for my interview, which puts a weird deja vu spin on things, even though we didn't make the time last year to take in the glories of Floriade. So we decided this year to see what all the fuss was about, since all we knew was that involved a LOT of flowers.<br />
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We took advantage of a colder blustery Sunday in hopes it would aid in parking and tamp down on fellow Floriad-ians. Little did we know, the event was even free!!<br />
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</div> Of course, no garden show is complete without the requisite garden gnome displays.<br />
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And nothing says "spring" quite like a presentation from Questacon (cool Canberra kid's museum) on the science of taste. Kirsten volunteered to have her tastebuds counted to see if she was a "super taster" which unbeknownst to her beforehand meant having blue dye sprayed onto her tongue!! Mika thought this was the best part of the day. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Be still, oh hearts of my gentle readers...I realize the stress on your systems with not one but two entries in a single month. Will try to keep up the pace, but no promises. But with a term break trip to the aptly named coastal town of Eden in the offing, hopefully there will be more news to report soon!!</div>Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-70358494971006171692011-09-10T19:28:00.000-07:002011-09-10T19:28:11.509-07:00Spring is coming!!Hi from Down Under...I won't even try to explain the gap between entries but suffice it to say that life sometimes gets in the way of even the best of intentions.<br />
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Winter in Canberra contained much more whingeing (complaining) about the weather than actual weather in my humble opinion. Australians love the sun and surf in a manner akin to religion and since Canberra contains neither, people approach living here with an audible girding of loins. Particularly in the winter. Ach, the winters, they are so cold, sometimes it gets to zero (Celcius).<br />
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When we are out and about in Australia (recent trips to Melbourne or Sydney), here's a typical conversation:<br />
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"So! You're an American!! Where are you living?" "Canberra!" [pause] Politely: "So...how's that going for you?"<br />
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In actuality, the winter was incredibly mild by Colorado standards. We had no snow and the coldest it got was just under freezing. I will acknowledge that part of the problem people have with cold here has to do with the lack of insulation in homes. Our house literally had holes cut out of our windows to allow for air in and out of the three bathroom rooms we have (one room each for toilet, shower, and sink). We effected some amateur fixes using duct tape and foam insulation, to the detriment of air flow...but winced nevertheless when we received our winter heating bill.<br />
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Mika has been playing soccer throughout the winter. Her season will end in a couple weeks and I can't imagine what we will do with our Saturday afternoons!! It has been a great season with nice coaches and not much travel. Mika has really enjoyed her teammates and has had a good season to boot. She is also taking lessons in judo which have been a nice complement to the team sport aspect of soccer.<br />
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Mika, much to her surprise and our delight, excelled at her school's cross country meet, and ended up doing well enough in the following regional meet to qualify for the all ACT competition. Kirsten was of course dreaming of a future running partner, but it turns out that Mika's enthusiasm went only as far as it meant that she got to miss school to compete. But it was fun to dream!!<br />
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One weekend, we journeyed to local bird sanctuary where Dan and Mika enjoyed the local feathered wildlife. Kirsten stayed behind the camera, disliking the feel of claws in her hair (unlike Mika).<br />
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On yet another weekend seeking some diversion, we ended up walking along the foreshore of Lake Burley-Griffen only to come upon a Segue rental shop. Mika was game, but we hade to load up her backpack with 20 pounds to offer sufficient counter-balance to the weight of the Segue. Only $15,000 and this, too, could be yours!! Since then the ACT has outlawed the use of this vehicle, but the shop is counter suing...stay tuned.<br />
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More recently, Kirsten spent two weeks in Shanghai, China with the Australian national women's water polo team at their World Championships. Shanghai weather was quite the contrast to brisk Canberra, like a warm, wet blanket smothering you as you walked outside. The hotel we stayed in, on the other hand, was palatial. I had no complaints!!<br />
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Here's an example of the always funny way in which English sometimes gets translated into Chinese (this was in the bathroom of one of our training venues). And I quote, "Water conservation all praise to start the tree from my example."<br />
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This is but one example of the wacky, futuristic buildings in Shanghai. Affectionately known as the "bottle opener."<br />
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It was a good trip in a sport psychology sense, working with the team and coaches in a high pressure situation, getting to know everyone better, and feeling like I fit in and could make a difference. That is, until our final game at Worlds, which happened to be against the USA for 5th place. My former colleague from the USOC, Peter, was the sport psychologist for the US team so there was a bit of banter pre-game. The weirdest moment for me was when the national anthems for each team played. I found myself really wondering what the etiquette in this situation was...could I without seeming to betray the Australians, put my hand over my heart and sing along with the anthem like I would have at any other point? I certainly could not sing along with the Australian version--I still didn't know the words. I compromised with the hand on heart, but no singing. Aside from that moment, it wasn't as hard to be "against" the US team as I would have thought. I realized that it was, as usual, about the people.<br />
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Australia beat the USA 10 - 5, the first time AUS has beaten the US in a major competition since 2000. A bittersweet victory from my perspective...with some mixed feelings, for sure.<br />
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Here is the team doing wall sits in the hotel aerobics studio:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Other Shanghai touring photos include: a temple built right on the underlying vocanic rock:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And the famous 10 cornered bridge:</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's more to write...as I type, it's September 11 (on this side of the world, anyway) and I am impressed at the amount of airspace the local news agencies are devoting to this topic. It is, as I imagine for most Americans, causing us to reflect on the horrific events themselves and where we each were ten years ago, and hope that the world is a better place since then. The US Embassy here is hosting some events that we may join in on.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">TTFN...ta ta for now. Hope the next message won't be so long in coming.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-7940914023683913692011-04-28T03:04:00.000-07:002011-04-28T03:04:18.955-07:00Too much stuff and nothing says Easter like MelbourneMy heartfelt apologies for the long stint between entries. It turns out that moving to a new country with family while trying to learn the ins and outs of a challenging job IS hard!! I was out of communication commission while trying to sort out some interesting staff and athlete issues. But now, the dust-up behind me and hopefully a bit wiser, I have some time to sum up our goings-on here in Canberra and surrounds.<br />
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So, after waiting and waiting, we finally got the call that our ship had indeed made it to Sydney and that most of our stuff passed quarantine. Except for two pesky pinecone Christmas ornaments (you gotta be kidding me, they went through the whole box?? I shudder to look at what survived) which cost us an extra $50 for disposal. Here was the actual exchange with the person from the moving company:<br />
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Moving person (MP): "We must inform you that you had pine cones in your shipment and that it will cost $50 for their disposal."<br />
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Me: (sharp intake of breath) "What?? $50 for two little ornaments?? Or is that $50 apiece???"<br />
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MP: hearty laughter... "Oh you are too funny, $50 for each? That would be silly!"<br />
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Me: (dryly) "Ahh. There's where the silly line in the sand is drawn, I see."<br />
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MP: "What?"<br />
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Meanwhile, I took guilty pleasure in knowing that the spices and herbs I had packed made it through without detection. Our food will be illegally spiced for the time being.<br />
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Unloading day dawned with the movers not far behind. They'd repacked our stuff into two smaller containers and of course all the big stuff was in the second one to arrive, making for a lot of shifting of little stuff to fit big stuff. The movers were a cheerful lot, though, and willing to try to cram our 2400 square feet of furniture into whatever nook and cranny our current 1800 feet would receive. The living room couch missed the cut, and is out in the garage. Along with what will probably be about 10 boxes of extra schtuff that we have literally no surfaces to handle. <br />
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The good news is that things now do look better than they did that first day. I laugh now at the thought we'd only live here a year and see how it goes--maybe find something better in terms of housing. We are here for the duration, as god is my witness, at least!! And it does now feel more like a home than just a house. And now we have that extra bed (okay, just a futon, but still!) for visitors, so come on down!<br />
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Easter, as it turns out, is big business in Australia, complete with the requisite chocolate eggs, bunnies, and well all those other spring images. The Australians are not ones to quibble over details like the fact that, well, it's fall here, for gosh sakes. This year's calendar provided everyone with a longer-than-usual holiday weekend, combining Good Friday, Easter Monday and Anzac Day into an almost week-long fest. Anzac Day comes from (and I am sure you will hear from Dan if I get this wrong) Australia-New-Zealand-[I go blank now for the rest of the letters, but it has to do with several countries heroic efforts during WWI] and is the local equivalent to our Memorial Day back in the US. ANYWAY, suffice it to say that with that many days off in a row plus Mika's school term break, we were off to the holiday races. Specifically, a trip to Melbourne to spend some time with Kirsten's work colleague Susie Parker-Simmons who used to work with KP at the USOC but coincidentally also moved to Australia so Susie could head up the Victorian Institute of Sport.<br />
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We had decided to make the 8 hour drive to Melbourne rather than flying so as to put miles on the leased car we were supposed to have in hand by now. The tsunami hitting Japan, however, derailed the arrival of our car, so we're still in the borrowed AIS Holden Captiva. Oh well...<br />
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So on the way down, we stopped at a coastal town called Lakes Entrance for more surf playing and hiking. Very nice area and yet more opportunities for Mika to outpedal mom from the waves.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From there we drove to Mount Eliza, a coastal community south of Melbourne to meet up with the Parker-Simmons family. Mika and I agreed that if we had to do it all over again, we could cheerfully live here--a 10 minute walk to the ocean in an area ripe with wineries and farms. We got to attend our first netball game, the Melbourne Vixens outlasting the Midland Pulse. Mika was unimpressed with the game even as us adults were amazed at the athleticism if not the action around the net. There's no dribbling per se, so players rely on quick passing and movement away from the ball to get it close to the goal (think basketball hoop without a backboard). The action sort of stops once the ball gets in close enough, but without a backboard and no real player-to-player contact allowed, the shot itself seems a little anticlimactic to those of us used to basketball mayhem under the basket. This sport is the #1 sport for women in Australia (men don't play it).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Easter Sunday, we all went to yonder garden/hedge maze area to while away the better part of the day scrambling through several hedge mazes (kids are much better at this than adults), visiting farms for local produce, and sampling a little of the local wineries. A wonderful day. Here's us at the maze place:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayyZXtWObHBZMWfOtT0ds3nxU3RxUVcZpMtI8ceZpfBEOdbhunDt1oFTNbcH13KaX9nAEXKRawsTIinLEpig-DPAVq7lcyN6PVsLfQvVaQL2OGVYsa2PKy8GFycyl1jE8AYfb_v5ij2-y/s1600/EasterMaze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayyZXtWObHBZMWfOtT0ds3nxU3RxUVcZpMtI8ceZpfBEOdbhunDt1oFTNbcH13KaX9nAEXKRawsTIinLEpig-DPAVq7lcyN6PVsLfQvVaQL2OGVYsa2PKy8GFycyl1jE8AYfb_v5ij2-y/s320/EasterMaze.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Above is Susie with her two kids, Rachel and Blake, as well as Mika, looking appropriately confused pre-maze. Below are kids, plus Susie, Dan, and Susie's husband, Jeff.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dyER7YZkHLY4q-3gd4rNU2wjs0V6Rmwx0d-w7SpGr6UNASFSM5bJtB2ATGjCfA5Eu3kJ9egmH0-5lD1GhJ-9CK86GODSIB3CEnINmI2HOaK3QyCer6eMIC0WeqlZ3bm8HVR5pWTao1-2/s1600/EasterMaze2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dyER7YZkHLY4q-3gd4rNU2wjs0V6Rmwx0d-w7SpGr6UNASFSM5bJtB2ATGjCfA5Eu3kJ9egmH0-5lD1GhJ-9CK86GODSIB3CEnINmI2HOaK3QyCer6eMIC0WeqlZ3bm8HVR5pWTao1-2/s320/EasterMaze2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Easter Monday, we all drove into Melbourne proper--the Parker-Simmons family had scored tickets to the big Australian Rules Football game that day (called "footy" by those in the know) while we toured the city for the day. Our highlight was a visit to the Melbourne Aquarium including the required shot of Mika in the shark's mouth, as well as an entertaining interlude watching the manta rays try to eat the divers who were in the tank trying to feed them...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR97nulUDRGwlKkDkfjGz75Ml1JXgm63Zp-TVjtaTpi4hZiBQyfXyuWHXi6GrdJJ_ym96Vfp2Jcu_J7A0CXqDQdqeVXgNuOS3vG3wZkTguwjTyxykqlTrQL8yoJpdKiha1nblcpEf0slTd/s1600/MelbourneAquarium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR97nulUDRGwlKkDkfjGz75Ml1JXgm63Zp-TVjtaTpi4hZiBQyfXyuWHXi6GrdJJ_ym96Vfp2Jcu_J7A0CXqDQdqeVXgNuOS3vG3wZkTguwjTyxykqlTrQL8yoJpdKiha1nblcpEf0slTd/s320/MelbourneAquarium2.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOO5ceLa4ahgGyP2MVExqFUGEJWh7kznxjkDIanJRtkas7bB0donx9VbFBrIrGDZVpUyMrYuMRkK2UCIw7gHedWiWdULJiNyfHMOOee3_aoZbGXor3hZKnhyphenhyphenhGLcE6gzBmyfBS68gvNwm/s1600/MelbourneAquarium1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOO5ceLa4ahgGyP2MVExqFUGEJWh7kznxjkDIanJRtkas7bB0donx9VbFBrIrGDZVpUyMrYuMRkK2UCIw7gHedWiWdULJiNyfHMOOee3_aoZbGXor3hZKnhyphenhyphenhGLcE6gzBmyfBS68gvNwm/s320/MelbourneAquarium1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tuesday and Wednesday were spent on the Canberra drive, this time taking the straight inland shot back. Roadside highlights included a stop at the famed "Dog on the Tucker Box" exhibit, right off the highway no less. It would appear that Australians are quite fond of capturing folklore or local points of interest in statuary--in some cases incredibly oversized statuary. This particular attraction may have lacked physical stature, but it made up for it in sheer audacity. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeCYYgooRd3eX8KuA2Jqlki5AO-7qDVriVQQzjDf6xkuZ-BrAIPj_v9WH71S_Pwu8dzb89tbSjAs29N4a13SHsZWexLIat87sLxd9qrAoukF-mxQbUYqQm2yn1zCgU5Kfyz6KrLICV6G1g/s1600/dogtuckerbox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeCYYgooRd3eX8KuA2Jqlki5AO-7qDVriVQQzjDf6xkuZ-BrAIPj_v9WH71S_Pwu8dzb89tbSjAs29N4a13SHsZWexLIat87sLxd9qrAoukF-mxQbUYqQm2yn1zCgU5Kfyz6KrLICV6G1g/s1600/dogtuckerbox.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dog and Tucker Box.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The dog and his tucker box (otherwise called the lunch pail) has been the subject of many different story versions over the years. My current favorite is the one where the dog's owner--a workman of some kind--has a string of bad luck, he loses his way, his truck breaks down, and when he gets back to collect his tucker box, famished no doubt, he finds the dog (and this is a quote from the engraved story): "sitting--or worse--on the box." We will leave it to your collective imagination to determine what "worse" might be. But a story worth capturing and putting to print, wouldn't you agree?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Suffice it to say, we made it back to C-town in one piece. Stay tuned for our next, hopefully more timely episode!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-39168337326000290482011-04-01T20:11:00.000-07:002011-04-01T20:15:18.440-07:00A "normal" week goes byLife is settling down, finally. This will mark our second "off" weekend in a row, where we have no major plans or work trips for Kirsty.  So is life actually getting boring? Not quite. <br /> <br />A quick recap, last Saturday was Mika's first Saturday morning soccer practice, which allowed Mom and Dad some time for a hike together on nearby Mt Majura. On Sunday, we visited the Glassworks factory and saw a demonstration, then hit the art and food market next door. Mika had a great time sampling everything - chocolates, nuts, fruits, cheese, you name it. Then wandered through the art and craft area where she bought a book on Useless Japanese Inventions (turns out there are quite a few of these out there), and then another book that had won an award last year for best historical fiction for youth. We also met the author who signed the book for her (Ok, that was a little more of a thrill for me, but one day she'll appreciate it. Right?). We capped off the afternoon with a picnic lunch on the lake with a variety of foods we bought at the market. <br /> <br />The rest of the week went relatively smoothly, though I read a slightly disturbing headline on page 3 of the Canberra Times on Wednesday: "High rodent numbers ready to march into our warm homes". Apparently the unusually wet summer has led to a surge in the local population of "rodents", and experts are warning that with the first frosts expected in the next few months these buggers will try to get into homes. Ok, fine. Except something was gnawing at me (no pun intended), and I couldn't place it until it struck me this morning (again, no pun intended). A few nights ago we were sitting in the living room with some music on and Kirsty asked me if I heard something. I didn't, so I turned the music off. Still nothing. So I go and open the front door Thats when I heard it, whatever "it" was. Extremely bizarre, low guttural call. Kirsty seemed to think it was a possum, and I was in no position to argue, but it just sounded…. bigger. Finally, today, I put the two together and realized what I heard - <a href="http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/rous.bmp&imgrefurl=http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2007/12/rodents_of_unusual_size_rous_e.php&usg=__WRGKiZBg2U-Zdos3BJ1cih1ei3k=&h=284&w=375&sz=313&hl=en&start=0&sig2=RqnxG8NQNEZEtJuwhnWQPw&zoom=1&tbnid=yubN_pQCfavvsM:&tbnh=147&tbnw=197&ei=zZCWTeDFKpevcNO3wJMF&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drous%2Bprincess%2Bbride%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1237%26bih%3D599%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=338&vpy=84&dur=2398&hovh=195&hovw=258&tx=125&ty=163&oei=zZCWTeDFKpevcNO3wJMF&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0">R.O.U.S.</a> For those of you who have not seen the Princess Bride, well, go watch it. For everyone else, wish us luck!Dan Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18106806884734408963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-31959831434199234072011-03-21T04:10:00.000-07:002011-03-21T21:09:53.613-07:00A soggy day in Sydney town<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCfIbHU6f4CmHMiWfr-1AIAC-E9V28A9w2-S0n6kV2efMgaubTFryyyduswU8mjIOyJHUx6DWO6bGMhcXXWQs40q_RFMoSa7vbdakjuPYUR5eQbFPiZvt0eV_AXUPHOKpDP_qiIqEzRU/s1600/MikaOpera1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCfIbHU6f4CmHMiWfr-1AIAC-E9V28A9w2-S0n6kV2efMgaubTFryyyduswU8mjIOyJHUx6DWO6bGMhcXXWQs40q_RFMoSa7vbdakjuPYUR5eQbFPiZvt0eV_AXUPHOKpDP_qiIqEzRU/s320/MikaOpera1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586682602367024322" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN7seAI3vIzLaj2gka3G3Vp6pxNT73SL51p0Tapt54t9YprCAv0NdioTz27i11dyh3vJ3Y-YdGF0LbUbla50vXLSYDuESTo4p_VO_pQartfa3JX9LSAW53WzpOGnvBonmRe2OyLfvZ8oo/s1600/spider1.jpg"></a>Only three months in and another visitor from the States! My hoops buddy Mike was the first, just a week after we moved into the house. Not sure that ever made the blog, but he suffered through our early grilling adventures at the house, though it was still good to have a friend in to talk with and share a meal with. This time it was Kirsty's sister Zoe, who was on the backend of a whirlwind business trip to the Pacific Rim. We were able to meet up with her Friday night in Sydney and had a good, if soggy, weekend visit. After a fruitless search for a hotel suite that would accommodate 3 adults and a child (for less than our monthly mortgage back home), I settled on a B&B in the Surrey Hills neighborhood, about a fifteen minute walk from the Opera House and Circular Quay (thanks Oprah! By all accounts, Sydney is experiencing unprecedented tourism the last two months, and theories are the culprit is the big O, and I'm not talking about Oscar Robertson. This has turned an already pricey city into a seller's market, and the sellers aren't budging!). Once settled, it was just a matter of filling time (and trying to stay dry) between meals! We did have a good hour or two<meta charset="utf-8"> where the rain let up in Manly, retracing the the coastal walk Kirsty and I took back in September. This time with less sun and much to Mika's chagrin, and only slightly less to my own, more spiders!
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<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN7seAI3vIzLaj2gka3G3Vp6pxNT73SL51p0Tapt54t9YprCAv0NdioTz27i11dyh3vJ3Y-YdGF0LbUbla50vXLSYDuESTo4p_VO_pQartfa3JX9LSAW53WzpOGnvBonmRe2OyLfvZ8oo/s320/spider1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586489948675870162" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><meta charset="utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi12-VHi-qO-bMQ7tyEE5oMBGjLLTZPxchidJHWC_LfMVVnXRg65ttqfYzm7ofAw-MUUac9aNiFopTUvFiuXoteiWx30agtbUIypjYagkZDe7V0dI6zJNLGI8TK6G1fvWU-E3-iKFymimA/s320/spider2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586501562882128418" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <meta equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css"> <title></title> <meta name="Generator" content="Cocoa HTML Writer"> <meta name="CocoaVersion" content="1038.35"> <style type="text/css"> p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica} </style> <p class="p1"><meta charset="utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">These guys were hanging out (literally) overhead in the bushes we walked through once we got to the point. I may have gained a few pounds since hitting these shores, but am still vertically challenged so was relatively confident of passing underneath without notice. Mika had her doubts, which intensified with each new gauntlet. Fortunately we made it back without </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">incident, aside from getting dumped on again by the rain (mostly my fault as I had pushed for one last hiking segment along the cliffs).</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><meta charset="utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQC7LIeY06AJjYDFOomsbxKE1HXT59FnQjdJ4izuBjl2urbxHcM_SsHCNEpWeQLRNLCl7-xpIpGo80bDio7MESA_OT-zT7VJXLOJtHVXh46RB6kUkuTmo42xxcTg3tD08IC3k8L9sNY4/s320/danzoemika.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586680611183074946" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></span></div></span></span><meta charset="utf-8"></div>A nice ferry ride back in to the city, a few more great meals and before we knew it we were dropping Zoe off at the airport and heading back to Canberra. All in all it was a good visit, highlighted by incredible food. To paraphrase an old friend, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting some hip\trendy\flat-out-amazing cafe or restaurant. </div><div>
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<br /></div>Dan Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18106806884734408963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-37096809011636130922011-03-14T03:00:00.000-07:002011-03-14T03:02:18.654-07:00The Concert<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <meta equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css"> <title></title> <meta name="Generator" content="Cocoa HTML Writer"> <meta name="CocoaVersion" content="1038.35"> <style type="text/css"> p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center; font: 22.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 22.0px Helvetica; min-height: 26.0px} p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 20.0px Helvetica} span.s1 {letter-spacing: 0.0px} </style> <p class="p1"><b>
<br /></b></p> <p class="p2"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 20px;">Yes we went to a concert (how'd you guess?). Just last night Dad and I headed to a building that I forgot the name of to see Weird Al Yankovic perform live. I thought it was a good show and I even saw my dad laugh a few times. It was a small theater, about 15 rows then a few feet up and then the seats continued on, going up at a slight slant. He sang a few of my favorite songs including Eat it and Canadian Idiot. In between each of the songs he would play features from a show called the weird al show. It was pretty much weird al interviewing random people. They would also show segments from random shows that mention him. He also sang Fat (in his fat suit), the Saga Begins, Yoda, You Don't Love Me Anymore, and Dare to be Stupid. There were others but i forget what they were. All in all, I think it was worth the $200 that we paid for the two tickets.</span></p>Mikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536806563924258032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-50171481966772115882011-03-10T03:23:00.000-08:002011-03-10T03:23:40.376-08:00Our Ship Has Come In! Not.Hi from cloudy Canberra! The unseasonably rainy weather that has dogged the region all summer and by some reports devastated the local wine-supplying vineyards continues. Not that it rains all the time, mind you, but certainly way more than back in dry-dry-dry Colorado. Kirsten personally still finds it fun and novel and loves the lullaby sound of rain on the roof. Remind me of this entry when I start whingeing about it (whingeing = bitching, FYI) six months from now.<br />
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Other Aussie phrases of recent note:<br />
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Going pear-shaped = going wrong<br />
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I reckon = I think<br />
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Petrol = gas<br />
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Jumper = sweater<br />
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...and so on...so many of these are similar to British terminology that it was a bit off-putting to me when one evening a colleague of mind earnestly told me that if I wanted to fit in, it would be best to "hate the Poms." I mentioned how alike I found the Aussies to the Poms (Brits) and wondered why the dislike and she said it was that Aussies feel sometimes like the neglected little sister to the UK. And can't wait, therefore, to thump them in 2012 when London hosts the Olympics. Not that anyone is waiting til then to cheer any and all British losses in any sport. Boo you Poms! And stop calling us Aussies bloody convicts, willya?<br />
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Pause to catch breath and return to my role as dispassionate foreigner...<br />
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We had a wonderful weekend at the beach (yes another beach weekend) this time at Jarvis Bay which is home to dolphins and is a seasonal stopping-off point for the annual whale migrations. We did not see either species this particular trip, but learned enough about the area that we will return for sure. Our friends Amy and Sally (Sally being a work colleague of KP's) had invited us to share in the bounty of a home lent to them so it was a free lodging weekend. Jarvis Bay and surrounds is a national park, so little is developed, and no high rises in sight--wonderful for those who like their beaches unspoiled and minus the likes of boardwalks and hotdog stands. The weather was not perfectly suited for sunbathing but we made it out for a couple swim sessions including (wait for it...wait for it...) Dan's initiation into the world of boogie boarding! I have video in hand to prove it, but since Dan's the techno whiz in the house, you are unlikely to see it going to YouTube any time soon. Which is your loss. It did our hearts good to see him out there, and he was literally the last person out of the water.<br />
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As it happens, Jarvis Bay, like I suppose many coastal regions, consists of a bunch of different beach areas one after the other. We visited several and here are some of our weekend highlights:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPjLmme4McMk9Yh_kq73P0CfQxzTHs3IyiNjdkhyphenhyphen40HAcAmU39Qi_VmxkJ9wrKc0S4Y5a_4uk5q5lwR658n2CmhAJheT0OMuxCGCeB2zVciKx7dq536_lF6c_Y69kGoAUaOqGiKyeobxCU/s1600/FriBeachMikaKP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPjLmme4McMk9Yh_kq73P0CfQxzTHs3IyiNjdkhyphenhyphen40HAcAmU39Qi_VmxkJ9wrKc0S4Y5a_4uk5q5lwR658n2CmhAJheT0OMuxCGCeB2zVciKx7dq536_lF6c_Y69kGoAUaOqGiKyeobxCU/s320/FriBeachMikaKP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This is the beach closest to Vincentia where we were staying. Mika enjoyed the game of following the wave out then running backwards like a bat out of hell to avoid the incoming waves. My backpedalling skills left much to be desired. More like back-staggering.<br />
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Murrays Beach on Saturday afternoon. Damn you, rich yacht owner!! I want your life, just for a couple days, please.<br />
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We hiked round yonder point and up onto the point itself which separated the bay from the ocean with some spectacular cliffs and waves. At the top, we saw a warning sign about the cliffs but as usual were impressed with the general Aussie assumption that Average Joe wasn't there expressly to slip off the cliff so didn't need 10 foot fences to keep him from doing so. We were also amused by even the warning sign "falling person" symbol who seemed much happier even as it plummeted to its demise than its American counterpart.<br />
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Okay, so upon closer observation, maybe not, but it still struck us as funny at the time!<br />
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Sunday, we boogie boarded (yes, all of us!) and then Amy took Mika on her first ocean snorkeling experience at Greenpatch Beach. Upon their return to shore, Mika said they saw some angel fish and lots of minnows. Amy called Mika the "mother ship" because the minnows were actually camping out in Mika's shadow for most of the snorkel trip!<br />
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A wave from our intrepid snorkeler!<br />
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The next day, Kirsten headed to Adelaide for a track cycling conference and the chance to see the South Australia Sport Institute (SASI) prompting this response from her when she was invariably asked, "so how did you find SASI?" What else could I say but, "Sassy!" Ba dum bum.<br />
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Using the word sassy (which I do not often get the chance to do) reminds me: The Aussies are very fond of nick names. Very fond. As in taking one's name and morphing it into a nickname involving either the adding of an "o" or "ee" at the end some portion of it. Men are especially fond of this or at least they seem to be the ones with the names. The male AIS sport psychs, for example. consist of Patchy and Lloydy--Patchell and Lloyd being the original last names. And if you think that is the end of it, you would be wrong. Very wrong. In addition to the penchant for adding vowels to the end of names, I have been pulled up short by some nicknames that have no relation to their namees but are just classics--in my humble opinion, anyway. "Dumpa" and "Grub" are some recent examples--and both freely owned by national team coaches, may I add. I have found it best in both cases to stick with the standard, "Coach." <br />
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I have had several US-based pleas for me to take my obvious governmental clout here : ) to change the name of the national Aussie soccer team, the Socceroos to something--anything--else! Having lived here now for just shy of two months, I would be ill-advised to take on the suicide mission of wiping out a nickname derived from the time-honored vowel-adding tradition. It clearly meets all criteria for a dare I say nickname. My advice: get over it, you stiff-necked Americans, and I am talking to you, Timmo Putz-ee!!<br />
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March 17 will mark the two-month anniversary of our arrival in OZ. Plenty of time to have to live within the limits posed by our two suitcases apiece of goods, you say? Ha, we retort! Just you watch! And you will get plenty of time to watch how long we can last--we found out today that our container carrying our worldly goods that was supposed to dock in Sydney on March 8 has been instead been beached in Taiwan due to a ship cancellation forced by the Chinese New Year. Wahh?? Wasn't that holiday in January? Nevertheless, now we are looking at an April 22 goods-in-Canberra date. I for one (and I cheerfully count myself in the minority in the family on this) am not all that fussed by the news. I still carry the scars of having purged, sold, cleaned, organized, and supervised the packing of our stuff. Dan is missing some things (recipes being high on the list) and I think Mika would be buoyed by the sight of her things for sure but wait we will. Everyone in the moving industry food-chain we have spoken to has taken pains to point out that this development is (and I quote) not their fault. So I suppose we blame it on those Chinese New Year lovers?? Ah well, nothing says adventure quite like a small pile of constantly worn clothing!<br />
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Poetry Contest alert. Mika goes to Telopea (Tel-o'-pee-a) Park School and I have made it my mission to write her a great fight song, in the tradition of the Great School Fight Song. Or as Mika would dryly put it, "to make my life miserable." Either way, I am looking for powerful school fight song lyrics with the catch being that they must eventually rhyme with "Telopea." Mika has rejected such classic riffs as:<br />
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"You will not mope-ea, when you go to Telopea!"<br />
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Or try this one,<br />
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"Our foes say nope-ea when they see Telopea!"<br />
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What, you didn't like that one? How about this?<br />
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"Come to Telopea, don't be a dope-ea!" "There is no hope-ea of beating Telopea!" "Ya can't beat Telopea, not even at jump-rope-ea!"<br />
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Submissions encouraged. Over and out from Down Under! Keep the emails coming, we miss you.Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-86036162976517631922011-02-26T21:47:00.000-08:002011-02-26T21:47:27.347-08:00Touched by an Angel (awww!), the End of Summer (wha?) and SpidersAll together now, "Happy Belated 12th Birthday, Mika!" She turned a year older on 21 February. A day that started inauspiciously when she said that it was just a birthday, nothing "happy" about it. Sigh. We decided to allow Mika to get a cat for her birthday to ease the pet-missing so headed off to the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and found our feline, a cute little 2-year old pre-named Angel.<br />
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Mika also opened a few presents (actual and virtual--books from her Amazon wish list) and we had the BEST chocolate cake ever. Dan found it at yonder Manuka bakery and we will be visiting that bakery often if I have any say in the matter!!<br />
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I just found our yesterday that summer here in Canberra (and I guess in all Australia, though that has yet to be independently confirmed) ends on Monday. March 1 is the beginning of fall. Jeez, it feels like we just left winter (okay, we missed the minus gazillion degree days that you Coloradans had to face, but still!) and now we're heading right into harvest season? I don't know why that seems even more confusing than just showing up here in the heat of summer, but there it is. Our first season is ending. Just writing that makes it feel like we have been here for something like a piece of time, and not just a few weeks. I suppose I will be boring you all with my musings over these tiny milestones (or this that kilometer-stones??) for months to come.<br />
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Through Dan's perseverence, we have now returned to the ranks of the internet-enabled. Installation came last Thursday and we are now proud parents of a wireless router, even. Never mind that the cables for all this connectivity are about to pull the eaves of the house (no fooling)...we are BACK!! I will let Dan rhapsodize on all that, since he was the one having to run from library to McDonalds for more than a week in the never-ending search for a reasonable Wi-Fi signal.<br />
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Other developments...<br />
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Mika tried out for a soccer team representing the Majura Football Club. We'd initially spoken with a club closer to our house, but it turned out that not all clubs are really for girls. The Canberra Football Club, we discovered, takes girls on, but only a few per team and the scuttlebutt was that they did so to keep their boys from getting too out of hand. Not wanting to have Mika's soccer season purposed in this way, we moved on to a club further afield, but one that had a good reputation for being fun and low-key. From the looks of things at the try-out, Mika's skills are on par with her Aussie counterparts and she's cautiously optimistic about the season. We all were also pumped by the news of the club's plans for a team trip to Borneo next year. Of course geographically challenged me has no idea where Borneo is, but I assume that Mika would never have made her way there otherwise, so we're thinking that it should be a go if things work out.<br />
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Today was house cleaning day for Kirsten. Those of you who know me can stop your eye-rolling right now. It was only to establish a cleanliness baseline...not a sign of things to come that I would regularly spend 4 hours cleaning all the floors in the house. Now we can let things go to hell in a handbasket. Ha.<br />
But while cleaning, Mika found one of the big-assed Canberran spiders we had heard tell of prior to coming here, but had yet to see. Right on our shower wall yet. Okay, so it wasn't quite the size of an outstretched hand, but it did range larger with feet extended than my palm for sure. <br />
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Until next time....!Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-56864004027870058372011-02-11T03:06:00.000-08:002011-02-11T03:21:19.579-08:00New School, New Job, and Parliamentary Procedures...This morning, I actually had to count up the days we had been here because I was positive we'd been here for way more than a month, only to figure out it had been barely over three weeks! Time has gone fast...and slow. I am getting used to driving on the left hand side of the road, even finding US-based TV shows that show RH driving to be a little freaky. That is, of course, until I again hit the #$%#$ windshield wipers rather than the turn signal and realize that I am still such...a rookie.<br />
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Aussie phrases of the week:<br />
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..."like a pork chop." Used in sentences in such contexts as: "You were dancing like a pork chop." When I asked what that meant, I was told that pork chops, as a meat product, tend to sizzle more in the pan, so it basically was a way of saying that you were really fussed or upset or obsessed by something.<br />
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"In the purple" = "in the zone."<br />
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Kerfluffle = Dust-up or altercation or at least confusion (I think)<br />
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Homefront news: it was a big week for all of us, and another time of shock and awe as we transitioned from pseudo tourists/house hunters into gainfully employed inhabitants (at least Mika and KP) : ) Dan is dutifully assuming the role of house-husband/domestic god/caretaker of the 1000+ details yet to be ironed out as we assume status as bona fide residents and not just furnished-apartment wannabes.<br />
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Mika's transition to student was (and continues to be) a work in progress. Unlike her parents, she was underwhelmed by her acceptance into one of our two schools of choice. Her first reaction during the initial school tour was that the school was old and it stank. The smell part I couldn't confirm, but in the old part she is correct. Telopea Park School is the oldest in the Australian Capital Territory and was designed by the same architect who created the old parliament house (affectionately known by locals as the "wedding cake" but I digress). Interestingly, Telopea Park School is half-funded by the French government (don't ask me why) so up to 6th grade, students have to speak French as it is exclusively spoken in half the classes. Seventh grade and up, there is both an English and French stream which is why we were hoping Mika would be bumped up to seventh grade.<br />
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As part of Telopea's curriculum, all students have to take a language class. Mika, by virtue of her last-minute enrollment, got her last choice of languages: Indonesian. On the one hand, I empathize with her disappointment. On the other I am secretly gleeful. Indonesian. A whole part of the world we all could stand to learn so much more about! She will also (obviously) be learning about Australian geography. I think Dan and I will be reading her textbooks as much as she will be. We have a lot to catch up on.<br />
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By Monday, the first day of school, Mika had resigned herself to her fate and stoically rose to the challenge. Upon our entrance onto school grounds, I could tell she was checking out the scene and assessing her relative appropriateness. Off came the hoodie she'd been wearing and she increased her distance from me. I captured this paparazzi photo (no posed "first day of school" shots this year):<br />
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We were ushered into the school auditorium for the "first day of school" introduction (parents were on the right side, students on the left). It was hard to watch Mika leave my side and literally find her own way to a seat all by herself. <br />
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Really, it was a shock to all of us...another transition bigger than I at least thought it would be--after all, we'd been here for several weeks already. Mika really struggled those first couple days, keeping to herself until one night when she finally broke down and let me know how sad and upset she really was about this ordeal. I will say that it was wonderful for me for her to turn and hug me fiercely, finally letting me in, even if it was just for a little while. Every adult I talk to about this echoes our own thoughts that it's just a process that will take some time to get through, that she will make friends and eventually settle in just fine, but boy does my heart go out to her in the meantime. She really has the hardest job of all of us right now.<br />
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Meanwhile, I had my own transition issues, hitting work for my first full-time week. I work for the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), which is a subset of the Australian Sport Commission, the part of the Australian government responsible for sport and physical activity. The AIS focuses on elite sport including but not limited to Olympic sport (hello cricket and netball!). The main AIS complex is in Canberra and is much larger than the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. There are several sports based in Canberra, but like the US, most sports are in other places as well. I head up the Performance Psychology Discipline for the AIS which means I oversee our staff of full and part-time psychologists and basically am charged with directing activity to make sure that we are appropriately meeting the psychological and mental training needs of our elite athletes and coaches. (Do you like how I worked in the word "our"? I have had to work on disassociating myself from my affiliation with the US and remembering who I work for now!)<br />
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My week has been spent figuring out emailing, phone system, learning names, wondering how I will ever learn it all, getting tutored on the psych staff's very fancy espresso machine (blowing away my assumption that I would have to drink tea here at work), strategizing, attending meetings, learning budget management, reading research proposals...I have needed a nap every evening as soon as I get home.<br />
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The week was topped off by a last-minute plea from AIS higher ups to "go up to the Hill" as part of an invite to present to an Australian Senate subcommittee (health and aging) on the topic of youth suicide prevention. Apparently this is part and parcel of working for the government, that we are pressed into, well, helping the government! It is without shame that I admit that I was practically the last person to be asked, but several more suitable candidates were unable to attend. My initial reaction was to find someone--anyone!--to go in my stead...what did I know about Australian anti-suicide efforts? I finally agreed to go figuring what the hell--what a cool thing and who could be that mad at the oblivious newly-arrived American? So I dressed up and found my way to the *new* (aka not wedding cake) parliament house--a spectacular structure crowning the hill of the government circle, met my boss there, was issued the visitor pass, and ushered to a room fitted with miked table and recording studio. Me and about 15 others deemed expert enough to answer questions of senate committee members. All in all, it was a great experience. I was able to contribute to a discussion of how sport and exercise involvement can act as a buffer for depression, and was asked more questions than even I thought appropriate, but realized that some committee members were just really interested in sport! I was impressed at how well prepared the committee members were, asking thoughtful questions of the assembled psychologists and suicide prevention agency folks in attendance.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Tonight is our last night at the serviced apartment. Feeling a tad nostalgic prior to our move to the house tomorrow, here are some pictures.<br />
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LR/DR:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIL8FkAj9zw57kbjCqM6RD1N9Bx9RJMrlZci82OiA0_WmA8pD7Uv8oDK85DOEr4GZ0cLhmA-JEZuGPbe-HrsvBZgPoNHCbowUq_oMIZjFh6cz_O3s6zjaMzOX_1x3pSD7bTp_27xov8_O8/s1600/ApartmentLR%253ADR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIL8FkAj9zw57kbjCqM6RD1N9Bx9RJMrlZci82OiA0_WmA8pD7Uv8oDK85DOEr4GZ0cLhmA-JEZuGPbe-HrsvBZgPoNHCbowUq_oMIZjFh6cz_O3s6zjaMzOX_1x3pSD7bTp_27xov8_O8/s320/ApartmentLR%253ADR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Mika in her favorite Ipad reading pose on the couch:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUmXWmUym-FKVghj3xeLhLfQEqp4lkjjYQaGzLwP7eciBIRcm_MCKqEmXAC3YR-LYKGjmao1xEs3AglyjLIvM8BYgwej7I1jXedUNkra2gS2xQ0h1U40XtZiAb0q3M2jxJCbNrqlpYw4B/s1600/MikaApartment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUmXWmUym-FKVghj3xeLhLfQEqp4lkjjYQaGzLwP7eciBIRcm_MCKqEmXAC3YR-LYKGjmao1xEs3AglyjLIvM8BYgwej7I1jXedUNkra2gS2xQ0h1U40XtZiAb0q3M2jxJCbNrqlpYw4B/s320/MikaApartment.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
KP playing house in the kitchen:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvh7dC7Gfg6BDt-ulYwovXrpvBlvgIV7m5Zu780d-RlEh5oc6nTL4nr7j-89YAIXXEJvBZM6SVZZaggm_eCtYG6lD6NquVd1v4gLehgxN-4n_ZVLM5-a0FCC7nBSOPXVsWqiccitEDwHI/s1600/KPApartmentKitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvh7dC7Gfg6BDt-ulYwovXrpvBlvgIV7m5Zu780d-RlEh5oc6nTL4nr7j-89YAIXXEJvBZM6SVZZaggm_eCtYG6lD6NquVd1v4gLehgxN-4n_ZVLM5-a0FCC7nBSOPXVsWqiccitEDwHI/s320/KPApartmentKitchen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Mika and KP livin' it up in the living room:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MPtBj_CJeWrpV1bsyGoczS6QaGKohdVVXJ4CXGlJOysxg6rsjoFmv8zrQ-nnmCQSK5RwAk1mSR1GtvqVadG3AYp_nNbOJPM95bzdrWAf_WhPWPz7QVF_0RYBHHWlDPrPOMXKgLwsH9LU/s1600/KPMikaApartment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MPtBj_CJeWrpV1bsyGoczS6QaGKohdVVXJ4CXGlJOysxg6rsjoFmv8zrQ-nnmCQSK5RwAk1mSR1GtvqVadG3AYp_nNbOJPM95bzdrWAf_WhPWPz7QVF_0RYBHHWlDPrPOMXKgLwsH9LU/s320/KPMikaApartment.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Yes, we are the Slackers...<br />
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This weekend: The Big Move and Mika finds a soccer team (we hope!) Cheers!!Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-33290230715602557252011-02-06T16:56:00.000-08:002011-02-06T16:57:08.925-08:00Another day at the beach<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <meta equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css"> <title></title> <meta name="Generator" content="Cocoa HTML Writer"> <meta name="CocoaVersion" content="1038.35"> <style type="text/css"> p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica; min-height: 18.0px} p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Helvetica; min-height: 20.0px} span.s1 {letter-spacing: 0.0px} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color: #0225a3} </style> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Second day at the beach in less than a week, are we becoming Aussies? Or just slackers? Probably a combination, and I'll leave it to others to assign the appropriate (individual) designations. This time we were down on the south coast of New South Wales, at an area called Batemans Bay. This is the closest ocean spot from Canberra, so guessing we will be making plenty of visits here. The drive itself was something of an adventure, as I was left with a quesy stomach on the way in with Kirsty driving, and flayed skin on the way back from Kirsty's radioactive glare while I drove home. We may need Mika to drive next time to keep the family peace somewhat intact. Once there and settled we had another good day. Body surfing in the morning, and then after lunch Mika and Kirsty bought boogie boards and tried those out.</span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="s1"></span>
<br /></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" >(hmmm... blogger is not happy with the video upload of said bogie-boarding I've been trying for the last 12 hours. I finally gave up and uploaded to You Tube - You can watch here if interested: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8mcNgl8ipQ"><span class="s2">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8mcNgl8ipQ</span></a>)</span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="s1"></span>
<br /></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Before finally hitting the road for the trip home, decided to stop at the grocery store across the street from the beach and get some drinks and ice cream. Not sure if it was heat stroke, or just my sick of being charged 8X what I would normally pay in the states (three-fifty for a soda, 5 bucks for an ice cream, $18.75 for a thimble of beer), but I finally cracked and bought an 8-pack of ice cream bars. Yes, there are only three of us, and it was a two hour plus drive ahead, so obviously no saving for home. So it was a quick two apiece outside the store, before a brief respite, then two more in the car. Fortunately, the Aussies are much less judgmental than their European forefathers, so this behavior went by unnoticed.</span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="s1"></span>
<br /></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" >So what led to this excursion (aside from the obvious)? Final closure on Mika's school! She's in! (Was starting to worry about that whole home-school thing, although not as much as her). Met with the principal and vice principal on Friday, they accepted the paperwork, and we even slapped down a deposit on her first school field trip (where? the ocean of course). So, tomorrow will be her first day of school, as well as Kirsty's first "official" day at her job. Which leaves me with…. blogging! Woo-hoo! I can just feel the excitement. Or maybe thats just the wind generated from all those browsers shutting down at once. E-breeze?</span></span></p>Dan Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18106806884734408963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-90702417755969862512011-02-01T01:21:00.000-08:002011-02-05T14:19:48.137-08:00We Rent a House AND Go to the Gold Coast!The good news is that we actually have ourselves a rental house and thus a spot of Earth to hopefully satisfy yonder tough-talking school administrators. Of course having signed the lease, rushed to the governmental international education agency to have them provide the requisite stamp of approval on having jumped said hoops, we find out that the school of choice is doing professional development sessions until Friday, so my hope of immediate resolution of the school limbo was not to be. Being a person who loves closure, I am, as my yogic friend consistently reminds me, learning to love breathing through my left nostril which is supposed to help me stay in the moment and not mind this "blowing in the wind" feeling. Can you tell it's working? Not. : )<br />
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Anyway, back to the house. It has "double brick" construction which folks here hold in high regard for being cool in summer, warm in winter. Lovely rose bushes in the front, some fruit trees (which in addition to their being willing to consider pets clinched the deal for Mika), a great side deck, and a yard for the vegetable garden I have been missing all those years in Colorado.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1tv-NuHxmVkxn2YkVqwYjCbdIbpulUWDOgYNu8AwKJyJpAkFLLUrN2zc9xVHAekyG9JTSgDGqwBwmJIFsy99ywG4cBU-kaTPazNV-gx4CCKX19OiexMcdlrF6DpIZLuX7Kb-IIyExINX/s1600/CaleyFruitTrees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1tv-NuHxmVkxn2YkVqwYjCbdIbpulUWDOgYNu8AwKJyJpAkFLLUrN2zc9xVHAekyG9JTSgDGqwBwmJIFsy99ywG4cBU-kaTPazNV-gx4CCKX19OiexMcdlrF6DpIZLuX7Kb-IIyExINX/s320/CaleyFruitTrees.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Side yard fruit trees!! (Photo credits to Mika)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEL1rcZcQ4UfB2ADeR1WAE14X6PT-D4Qi1loJ9JT77z18CUAiKLc3BanfDMvxLNXwdWBJd0iSr9Z0tu725ElrKYihK5YgImZiqtJ46HmHIf4er0i9bypITepOBG4xCop_NtGeSrz_ju1TW/s1600/CaleyKitchen1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEL1rcZcQ4UfB2ADeR1WAE14X6PT-D4Qi1loJ9JT77z18CUAiKLc3BanfDMvxLNXwdWBJd0iSr9Z0tu725ElrKYihK5YgImZiqtJ46HmHIf4er0i9bypITepOBG4xCop_NtGeSrz_ju1TW/s320/CaleyKitchen1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Kitchen --- note the small oven which seems typical of all homes we saw. Apparently, the 18-pound turkey dinner is not going to be happening! But all appliances have much higher energy efficiency ratings than I have ever seen, which is a great thing. Our landlords own a kitchen renovation business which is clear from this beautiful space.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNcj-ld84Gmen-NPIJ6kxWmEBK9crgzUZum0rWYJ32wJuarf1vmDdYkDZ9AZ7EvNVpmVFRYRnybx2KIB_hyX_OouwQmaN4sJB0U0I2NaUpoGUlPYeAO87h1iRCZJUu6QASyByF_GzHtdP/s1600/CaleySideDeck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNcj-ld84Gmen-NPIJ6kxWmEBK9crgzUZum0rWYJ32wJuarf1vmDdYkDZ9AZ7EvNVpmVFRYRnybx2KIB_hyX_OouwQmaN4sJB0U0I2NaUpoGUlPYeAO87h1iRCZJUu6QASyByF_GzHtdP/s320/CaleySideDeck.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Side deck, which will not be looking as nice when this model furniture is replaced by our Sears Special outdoor set. : )<br />
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A big selling point for us was and is how nice our landlords have been throughout the process. I think in the end, it can make as much difference as the house itself. They have the house furnished and will leave the furniture during the time until our own stuff arrives from the US. From the looks of things, I think we will like their furniture better than ours!! We will be moving in the weekend of February 12, a week after Mika starts school. Seems only right to limit the major transitions in our lives to one per week.<br />
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Having nailed the house down, we were able to breathe a sigh of relief and set our sights on the impending trip the AIS had arranged for us, to the Gold Coast for the weekend. The Gold Coast is located just south of Brisbane, and about a 2-hour flight north from Canberra. It's a series of beaches famed for incredibly soft white sand where sunbathing and surfing are nigh onto the region's religion. The ostensible reason for the trip was for me to get to meet the national team water polo coach whose team was having a camp there...but I really think the AIS was helping us to feel welcome, especially Mika! I say this because it is also the theme park capital of Australia. : )<br />
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We stayed in a great apartment a few blocks off the beach, a place Mika dubbed the "best hotel I have ever stayed in. Ever." Mostly because we slipped her into the master suite with her own bathroom and best of all, her own TV.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRDuEGKYHMGyhvgLVuoRGHgivaNXVgOxkHxhGov19s8sysQJ8x4ESH5CUYixio70VNb4dio6qZQVpSQfVUT0b2-OQJjh3fONPbnYdA-l2w2L6lxRQcf6tR286xgelKec67G_8L7GXePcd/s1600/MikaGoldCoastRoom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRDuEGKYHMGyhvgLVuoRGHgivaNXVgOxkHxhGov19s8sysQJ8x4ESH5CUYixio70VNb4dio6qZQVpSQfVUT0b2-OQJjh3fONPbnYdA-l2w2L6lxRQcf6tR286xgelKec67G_8L7GXePcd/s320/MikaGoldCoastRoom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Note the remote in hand, despite the awesome ocean views.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We played and swam in the ocean the first day, and went to yonder water park after my meeting on the second day. All in all, a great break from the grind of house hunting and worry about school stuff.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRN755EryxuSJHB7hTPVSJk2Q7uQMbnejvzBZP1Do7HiC1-u77_ayAUH54SD7ofzcgfLrnROr-6s8zO4LWLoLCIANpt72_siQFk9c6vc9h9tXkugG5_wD7We8047Qhnz44BTz5kXxd5bdX/s1600/GoldCoastSandCastle1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRN755EryxuSJHB7hTPVSJk2Q7uQMbnejvzBZP1Do7HiC1-u77_ayAUH54SD7ofzcgfLrnROr-6s8zO4LWLoLCIANpt72_siQFk9c6vc9h9tXkugG5_wD7We8047Qhnz44BTz5kXxd5bdX/s320/GoldCoastSandCastle1.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPTjmvO10pjVfGvIlBZgrroKxOl8eFw0vaDxq5c3Aikav12x5mEXS7gzkK1okQO6rkfHWVRD-VWe6VZiml5m7GvmwGcQAT-BwpZOlFuB4QDBbn92AQA-Z9VxVVxg_yL0shohKPrZCywYVD/s1600/Mika_beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPTjmvO10pjVfGvIlBZgrroKxOl8eFw0vaDxq5c3Aikav12x5mEXS7gzkK1okQO6rkfHWVRD-VWe6VZiml5m7GvmwGcQAT-BwpZOlFuB4QDBbn92AQA-Z9VxVVxg_yL0shohKPrZCywYVD/s320/Mika_beach.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUP2z1hdkKEK3tGX4r5SxxUL_VbCvjlombACZSyvSH_1pIledXHJe1pp2D6XwFuzqLre_YNZ3JWAW5cE7x9eKZoUFcpHPDEEBUwklvYaSzNSyHBj9jLquK8NZsoM-4gJyjHYICDU_H_MFc/s1600/GoldCoastDanMika.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUP2z1hdkKEK3tGX4r5SxxUL_VbCvjlombACZSyvSH_1pIledXHJe1pp2D6XwFuzqLre_YNZ3JWAW5cE7x9eKZoUFcpHPDEEBUwklvYaSzNSyHBj9jLquK8NZsoM-4gJyjHYICDU_H_MFc/s320/GoldCoastDanMika.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Note tiny surfers in the background...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>A brief note about travelling in Australia. There are several low-cost airlines that frequent the east coast cities/tourist destinations, and check-in processes are several degrees more laid-back than anything I have seen before (at least since 911). Including no restrictions on liquids, so Mika was carrying around her favorite liter of soda the whole way home! The onboard security speeches have a distinctly Aussie feel, which I think the stuffy US could stand to learn from. Like acknowledging the reality that you clearly DO already know how to put on a seat-belt, but hey, just in case your elderly aunt might need a refresher... It made me laugh, but also I actually paid attention to the patter for the first time in a decade.<br />
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So we're back in C-town waiting for our chance to prove ourselves school-worthy....stay tuned!Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-90300201229063330662011-01-27T03:45:00.000-08:002011-01-27T03:45:25.431-08:00Is the honeymoon over?After a rollercoaster day of housing-search highs/lows as well as sobering news from potential schools for Mika, Dan thought it might be good for me to vent my spleen on the blog rather than continuing to bang my head against the brick walls of our apartment. : ) Only kidding. I ate lots of ice cream and pouted. But even that cannot continue as the coping strategy of choice, so here I am.<br />
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First, the housing thing. We have now seen upwards of 20 houses in the inner south and north areas of Canberra. Initially, I was pro-North, but then we were placed into the inner south area upon our arrival due to housing shortages in the north. Familiarity, good local shops, and effusive comments about the area school, Telopea Park, caused me to quickly tip to the south as our area of preference. Even though housing prices run about $100/week more expensive "just for the address" as one of our property managers wryly observed. I feel like a tree in a windstorm being whipped one way than another...realizing after several days that our choices were limited in the inner south with so much of the housing actually being really expensive "executive housing" or out and out apartments, neither end fitting with the lifestyle we envision for ourselves. So we are back to broadening our focus on a wider housing area, which means more driving and readjustment of our future view.<br />
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Today's recap...<br />
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1:00pm: We find out that one of the houses we applied for had already gone to contract because we were several hours too late posting ours. Not that we wanted the house, really, but losing it made it the Holy Grail of homes.<br />
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2:00pm: We get a call, saying we'd been approved for property #2 in the inner south!! Yay! Except, just like the saying goes, I suddenly had no desire to join a club that would accept me for membership. We persuaded the property manager to give us another look at the property since they were all pretty much running together in my mind, and sure enough, it...just...didn't...suit. Living area was small and bedrooms were, too. But did we dare look fortune in the teeth and turn down an actual opportunity to be in a house? And why in heaven's name had we applied in the first place? Ever the embarrassed pessimist, I relied on Dan to look me in the eye and tell me that he felt lucky enough to walk away. And so we did. <br />
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5:00 and 7:00pm we look at two other totally inappropriate properties (think microscopic, then frat house) and I am in despair thinking we blew our big chance. Dan was able to take the long view and remind me that we've only been here a week and change, so not to worry. At least we have a roof over our heads. And our health, at least physically, right?<br />
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Second, the schooling thing. I happened to run by the Telopea Park School on my morning jog, and thought I would just check to see if someone was home, so to speak, even though the website said that no one would be available til 2/4. Sure enough, a kind admin opened the door to me and we had a lovely conversation about the possibility of Mika going to the school. Of course there are many hurdles including clearance from the country's Department of Education, evidence of residence in the catchment area (our serviced apartment manager was going to print up something letterhead to that effect), an academic review of credentials, since Mika would either have to jump up or down a half year to accomodate the mismatched start date of Aussie versus US schools. So yay! Then I receive an email from the assistant principal saying that an address at a serviced apartment would NOT suffice as evidence of residence since it was usually a short-term situation. Curses, my plan was spoilt!! But what is a long-term home-less US family to do?? Now I was feeling really stupid for having turned down the opportunity to have signed the valuable long-term lease when I had the chance.<br />
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Of course we still have a whole week before the term starts and a bunch of new homes to examine. Dan is good at reminding me of those facts when I start to get a little crazy and imagine home schooling Mika because we can't prove residency anywhere in Australia. : ) Yes, I can get a little dramatic at times. So, it is with these balanced thoughts that I sign off and hope you don't stop visiting our blog after this entry!Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-13846346505246480712011-01-25T23:15:00.000-08:002011-01-25T23:51:30.778-08:00Happy Australia Day!<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikRtF2Mgh74_sZpIK_UFRmzpxItI62xuJ20LZRh_RymP8dUlOhuOMdmepwb5IDRLQ-sbgzc0ulaW4z8bn3VYvBh3IWF1sBnikVYML6PQzvYYrIIjZEFUhQaOulGmF3JlIy2jdO0zW48g4/s1600/AussieDay5.jpg"></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhElSLsm-dhlsxPLml0WkAoq8gqPOQE4n9WeKRY_eZmpw6R7PmtDfiMWRMDWmjjPi_2WN2gTx_hjnS4sqO0sDIQfovTSPOwnOO11eGtE0oAIEtvyhqA0y1Dip3cS4Lsnei6bN1G-c6E2rs/s1600/AussieDay4.jpg"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQV_JZ60X12NjyGpfi-I2sv5IdWxe4ngGmzrpeoymgXc8tbC9WnT1q_FQsmvVXZS6E_ApJ-8pdgFCpnQhmDHHT_PXlF0045ujOE5YwF9iwShc-gvvngrSWd185dv559XxX1ma5jnSRhw4/s1600/AussieDay2.jpg"><span><span></span></span><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQV_JZ60X12NjyGpfi-I2sv5IdWxe4ngGmzrpeoymgXc8tbC9WnT1q_FQsmvVXZS6E_ApJ-8pdgFCpnQhmDHHT_PXlF0045ujOE5YwF9iwShc-gvvngrSWd185dv559XxX1ma5jnSRhw4/s320/AussieDay2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566392368097372818" /></a><br />Australia Day? Who knew? We were also embarrassed to realize that not only did we not know the words to the Australian national anthem, but we could not even hum the tune. Oh, so much to learn!<div><br /></div><div>Australia Day is the anniversary of the founding of the country, much like our Fourth of July (and weather is similar with temps today in the high 90s!). I asked people what happened on the day, and most shrugged and said that they were debating whether to stretch the holiday (which fell this year on a Wednesday) into a five-day holiday by taking Monday-Tuesday off, or going the other way and taking Thurs-Fri. Otherwise it is a day to barbeque with family and friends. Since we are in relative short supply of both at the moment, we looked to see if there were public shindigs going on and Canberra did not disappoint. The night before there was the announcement of the Australians of the Year followed by a concert featuring your favorite and mine (not!), the Wiggles!! Plus some other acts I had not heard of. We gave that a miss in favor of catching the Aussie Open on TV, but went in for the "Australia Day Breakfast" held in one of the many local parks. Sausage on bread (quite tasty, actually, more mild than brats which hit all the right notes at 8:15am) and a good assortment of fruit. That plus some instant coffee (plus a free edition of the Canberra Times for Dan) and we enjoyed sitting on a lawn listening to some city choir. Here are some pictures of the grilling efforts put on for the morning feed of several thousand folks who came out before 10:30am...</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhElSLsm-dhlsxPLml0WkAoq8gqPOQE4n9WeKRY_eZmpw6R7PmtDfiMWRMDWmjjPi_2WN2gTx_hjnS4sqO0sDIQfovTSPOwnOO11eGtE0oAIEtvyhqA0y1Dip3cS4Lsnei6bN1G-c6E2rs/s320/AussieDay4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566393217374506274" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikRtF2Mgh74_sZpIK_UFRmzpxItI62xuJ20LZRh_RymP8dUlOhuOMdmepwb5IDRLQ-sbgzc0ulaW4z8bn3VYvBh3IWF1sBnikVYML6PQzvYYrIIjZEFUhQaOulGmF3JlIy2jdO0zW48g4/s320/AussieDay5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566393428199000178" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">See all that bread??</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">Anyway, while we were in line for sassies, I believe they were called, we heard a lot of racket in the trees above us, which I initially assumed were birds, but when we looked up, to our collective amazement, there were multitudes of bats in the trees above our heads! No one else but us seemed surprized by this, so I guess chalk another "tourist" moment up to us ignorant Americans!!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvZqk4IAZ861HVcXCB89RI6EO6QcqZ7H9d5CnrM5wXM8k9Fnw2vkQOtgd4a1UDE6K1pp1XatlixE3LdM07FQypfuIrwQGm8k3MG7XpCLEUdW2RuY39Zucer9-7GG9cuL_4jMRGFCMYifk/s320/bats2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566394491376959362" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnRiAwKBbFnvn_4xITMrMo3S_JLj6Y_C_YQcu9RVtsofjHiS1NtAp51qlxH2hIrnSUOzpo9UG81FivcCNXbMZ4uQwk77JqVww5uRU5AdFHZeNShSQTWgpCg2Qgkw6lnfYZvuC14ta540/s320/bats.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566394488056715634" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">After the morning at the park, we went for a bike ride around the city and stopped at yonder gelato shop for the first of many ice-creams we had promised Mika could have in honor of the holiday. Some wise people back in the US who have had kids with them in these big transitions said that creating family traditions was important. Upon consultation on what traditions she wanted to see while Down Under, Mika said she wanted an ice cream day, so for us, Australia Day will also be known by that name as well!! Anyway, in honor of the holiday, the local gelato shop actually manufactured Vegemite gelato, which of course everyone had to try, even though even Vegemite-loving Australians could be heard to mutter, "that's just WRONG." I will say, having tried the real deal, the ice cream was not awful (thanks, Vegemite, for lowering my expectations so far down!) but probably not worth an actual purchase.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5p00CVkRaazGT6gF3O8n7_V0bmu6veaEi2xEvZ-NDrEhhGuapS04BfSd2vPJq0PAKHBxgdAE2jOyzF7aChFDkTDz2k1ptKuCV_QVgdg9rlfZa46tKg39xfQaCy4LgbAI50-3M-E5iH9w/s320/VegemiteIceCream.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566395926197852994" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">Mika and I rounded out the day (did I mention how bloody hot it was? : ) I am a wimp in anything but dry heat, I guess!) with a dip in our local public pool. Very very family oriented here in Canberra with almost all families out and about with lots of kids. Compared to how pools are supervised in the US, it felt a little chaotic, but yet people--adults and kids alike--seemed to supervise themselves just fine. It was lovely to take a dip--even lovelier knowing that 2 weeks ago we were freezing our patooties off!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">Cheers for now (and though it says the post was by Dan, I think most of you will recognise Kirsten's much less succinct style!!)...</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF1fHvXmMGQqcbYqkYQyYAyv0A-8tK9IEYNPdUC9rsE_pyZ88cNbJ0gKIV7RB-9knOxYOgbg2zmvPzpmhiQ6VnDuGnVyprm2FX3YS3o3QhGwKzTUBudY0xlMEzHI4P4XB6AbFJEC91w4o/s320/AussieDayMika.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566398735292038690" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJNexq8eT-PJwZsyELyUPzr16q2s88Pupor90rH0OPf_2sQpIwJPCabRiTPYFA5Td0RUOsrFNGMpYu00Q-D5bR4lQE1uDn5rOOmVBYAv8iB2TG7RUJtIuOmnXTn5FqU56ersagP17bysY/s320/AussieDayDan.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566398732508268322" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">P.S. Dan is loving the thai panang--self-satisfied evidence above!!</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div>Dan Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18106806884734408963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-48993371806358208012011-01-25T02:01:00.001-08:002011-01-26T13:29:29.321-08:00First Weekend in Canberra<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></u></span></div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">First full weekend in Canberra complete. Yes, I realize its Tuesday. But the weekend was not officially over before QB #3 threw the final interception for the Bears approximately noon on Monday, which I had the pleasure (?) to watch live. Not likely to have too many more events like that. Other than that, had a pretty interesting weekend. Took in our first sporting events here, starting with the local women's professional basketball team on Friday night. Good game in a relatively low-key atmosphere, which meant that Mika was able to walk on the court with a number of other fans after the game to get autographs.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tyzaBESnF8a2LBn-d36INaBYiZawQ8GnUXzmqJ_WuTKHnasXpPvjEvifnOD6NDZjY19QkGdr6N6U-kyJL_7ddkacMjwek1Fw_ZFp83JGak9uar20qZ_KvDP1lQGWW2lt0PSg8bZ_Lus/s320/mika_bball.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566609514236752466" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Saturday brought us our first cricket match on the field across the street. At least thats what we thought was going on when we left to go look at houses mid-morning. Confirmation came when we returned mid-afternoon and the same match was still going on (could have been a double-header, but I don't think they do that in cricket. At least not since the Geneva conventions were signed off on in '49).</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3K2q5lfXrf4vlUlwECwdkUrbRZjskPeXk7KX_YIpAe2LObQbWA6IdOLsLYz5kRE482ckFfIQvjUP4OpVoiInF1DWOeB2Rz1CV_81ScvIADMbmgHU4XI-9QyC4m3EfVNNFcT6R6O4onm8/s320/cricket.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566609521258962050" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Also, balloons. Big ones.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjag-sKBZHtKTBkfrekS9YqGROoEO8xZazpQ9900d_eUaTtO7X1OEHz1u3W-TXxPOj589k2va40DE6gFqjfuGtPfPAnkxnL2DvW1J_cEKREVjXumNC0ZM_tAKg9pGbA99FlOVabGodvEHM/s320/balloons.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566609520063788418" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:130%;color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><p></p></div>Dan Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18106806884734408963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-75744977752443654672011-01-21T22:08:00.000-08:002011-01-21T22:08:42.539-08:00On the ground in Canberra<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We are HERE!! I have to say that leaving the Springs, I got on the plane in as close to a zombie state as I have ever been. Literally sleep-walked from CO Springs, to Denver, and to LA. Before waking up just in time to realize that we were in Row 59 of a 747--so far from the front of the plane we were lucky to see food, much less Economy Plus seating! : ) But we all pretty much slept most of that flight too, so not too bad.</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What was weird (I should say what was *most* weird in that just moving to another country is weirdness in itself) was how shocked I was, over and over, when we finally actually touched down in Canberra. Why I should be shocked was puzzling...what else have I been thinking of and planning for for lo, these many months?? Yet shocked I was to discover that we were relocating, not just vacationing, in this place. And if I was shocked, Mika was stunned. Poor kid was jetlagged and completely done in. Sobbing at the apartment we were staying in, then intermittently tearing up at odd moments the rest of the day. That kind of done in. We forced her to stay awake until 8:00pm just to get her more on the Aussie time clock...but it was painful to watch her trying to hold it together. A solid night's sleep appears to have helped us all but I still look back on that first day with interest. Update--Mika seems better, but quiet. We got to spend some time in the local science/tech museum which had scads of incredible hands-on exhibits including one in which you get to free-fall down onto a slide. Safe, but scary as hell. Mika thought it was very, very cool, so worth the price of admission! I realize our mistake in her having too much free time (2+ weeks to go) without the structure of school. We have to make it our mission to have fun while scrounging for places to stay at the same time.</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We are staying in a 2-bedroom serviced apartment in the near south suburb of Kingston. Right across the street from a fairly busy cricket pitch. We are certainly not in Kansas anymore! : ) We are walking distance from several sets of local shops, which is very cool. Walked over there to get our local bank accounts going, and did our first grocery shop, too. Australia is a very meat-centered culture, I am discovering. Note Dan's and Mika's exhibits--BIG sausages and "crispy bacon" for breakfast!!</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEzo9K7Dk6VLZvLZuVdkHlgvNM8cDpmqWPfmyAo_zSzahXWz-DokPdYnc8OzXcrBWbUzLvnTeTFudQ1DMKQ8A-lXGEkrIGz2xB-ycbT8e6UMSgjZwNgiTMJO1vWtLXFsScUbIbWnZKd3l/s1600/DanSausage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEzo9K7Dk6VLZvLZuVdkHlgvNM8cDpmqWPfmyAo_zSzahXWz-DokPdYnc8OzXcrBWbUzLvnTeTFudQ1DMKQ8A-lXGEkrIGz2xB-ycbT8e6UMSgjZwNgiTMJO1vWtLXFsScUbIbWnZKd3l/s320/DanSausage.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Also they favor tea over coffee by a fairly large margin. We shopped for a coffee maker a couple days ago, but did not pull the trigger yet, so still swilling the instant. Bleck. : ) Update: Got the coffee maker, one of two types for sale in the Macy's like store they have here. Of course electric teapots you can buy by the ton! There is a massive mall right downtown that we have managed to get lost in twice since being here. But they have a very good gelato place, so we are managing. : )</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Driving remains more of an adventure. We have a rental car provided by my employer until such time as we can organize buying one. It's one of those bigger SUV types, which unnerves me trying to figure out how much of the road to take up. I feel so damned big! I will be buying some little smart car to compensate, maybe. I drove for the first time a few days ago, and of course between not figuring out how exactly to best use the rear-view mirror since everything was turned around, almost got us in a fender bender trying to merge at one point. It's stressful enough that I was excited the idea of walking to a restaurant to eat!</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I have been in touch with work, and starting ever so slightly to engage there. I think it's guilt that up to now, all I have done is cause work for staff and money to be spent on my behalf. It's time that I starting solving more problems than I am creating! At some point, too, I should also have my own work-issued cell phone! In the meantime, Skype is serving as our main mode of communication back to the US.</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Right now, we are not located in our #1 priority school district for Mika, so the race is on to see if we can procure a rental there in time. Otherwise, we will stay put inasmuch as our current digs are in the enrolment area of school #2 and thus narrow our search to this area. We have looked at about 12 houses so far and really not seen anything that has wowwed us, or if they have, the price is high and pets are a no-no. It seems that many of the homes on the cheaper end of the scale are simply too small to accomodate our furniture! Damn the decision to include that second couch on the container! : ( I can see us having to spend a pretty penny just so we are not putting out major furniture pieces to the curb! On the plus side, I really like many of the neighborhoods--everything has lots of trees and the streets meander around rather than feeling like you're in the grid system like too many CO Springs neighborhoods. I am really, as mentioned, also enjoying the cosy neighborhood feeling where you can walk to the market, get a paper, or as I did this AM, go to the gym for spin class! It literally was a 5 minute walk.</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Anyway, that's the news for now. Below is a pic of a kangaroo taken by Mika. She is happy about that, but is still waiting for someone to walk up to and say the phrase, "shrimp on the barbie." Given the term here is actually "prawns" I'm not seeing it happening any time soon! <br />
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</div>Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453511542210215223.post-52985704344750444672011-01-20T14:04:00.000-08:002011-01-20T14:04:09.413-08:00Saying Goodbye to Colorado and Hello to Canberra!Thanks to Michelle Farrell in particular and many of you in general, we are going to give this blog thing a try!! While we have been in Oz now for several days, we'll first back up and start at the beginning. Or the end, depending on your perspective! : )<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivIowfrRfbAqyMgb20gNEUAMm6iXusP56lKBEoh6-kvRmEeIC6hGjhrypTtcrd5e31uA4hFLgqEDaAccPWFITw4HoholgSv6EZhzQMUeWQaN2doGQawjZ6MgzvmK-lOTKYlMccrBbDXb8J/s1600/PartyDanKP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivIowfrRfbAqyMgb20gNEUAMm6iXusP56lKBEoh6-kvRmEeIC6hGjhrypTtcrd5e31uA4hFLgqEDaAccPWFITw4HoholgSv6EZhzQMUeWQaN2doGQawjZ6MgzvmK-lOTKYlMccrBbDXb8J/s320/PartyDanKP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWqqMD-APPPPeHAKTQYyMvUY2qjJfThpqTfBNC-XWThaPazP6ZzjW_ax4ylzXPESCnvXS9Eq0O4z4DD9lFj-VXaI3MpzkUE5EIbYzWohufY44X21iJLToZ_akrzuuhcbcic5TwfhC-NiY/s1600/PartyJohnCarrie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWqqMD-APPPPeHAKTQYyMvUY2qjJfThpqTfBNC-XWThaPazP6ZzjW_ax4ylzXPESCnvXS9Eq0O4z4DD9lFj-VXaI3MpzkUE5EIbYzWohufY44X21iJLToZ_akrzuuhcbcic5TwfhC-NiY/s320/PartyJohnCarrie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYT2d1Su385XJjqcALosHaXbcWTRAUoZCCX4KpujFoosjUvE4FvWqHUwDvzBNdG_gCpxF6asGbWAVVic0Wa8vgQoqW4bgMieEBaMKTBdjBuY6w2FprfNmQ3gsG_-ozhkY5BsFYatbZpIL/s1600/PartySusan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYT2d1Su385XJjqcALosHaXbcWTRAUoZCCX4KpujFoosjUvE4FvWqHUwDvzBNdG_gCpxF6asGbWAVVic0Wa8vgQoqW4bgMieEBaMKTBdjBuY6w2FprfNmQ3gsG_-ozhkY5BsFYatbZpIL/s320/PartySusan.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>First, the going away party...made beautiful and memorable by our intrepid team of organizers, decorators, and guests. That is to say, I had nothing to do with it! Thanks to Mountain Light Company (aka our wonderful friends, the Fullers) for the lighting, and to Susan Clark, party planner and designer extraordinaire for her (and her family's!) tireless efforts to take our going away soiree from a lame boxed-wine/keg affair to a classy and truly memorable event!! You will see no pictures after the prep ones because we were having too much fun catching up with friends from all walks of our Colorado Springs lives. It was great to see you all, even if we didn't have much time to actually talk to you!<br />
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A special note of thanks to my dear friend Laura Larson who came out to visit, help pack, and generally make us laugh at a time when we could have easily cried and gnashed teeth. It was also great to have out of town friends like Bill Pellico, the Putz family, and the Wrights come to see us off. I must stop now or I will get too verklempt to continue!!<br />
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Soon thereafter, packing became less of an adventure and more of an absolute necessity as our international moving company showed up. These guys meant business as they meticulously wrapped up everything in brown boxes and wrapping paper in prep for a container voyage to Australia. They alertly pre-marked anything that was staying behind with blue painter's tape, including me!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">More to come now that we are on the ground in Canberra! Bye for now...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Kirsten Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014994102954327491noreply@blogger.com4