List

It is Autumn in Perth, I can tell because the few North American trees that line my street are changing color (most native Australian trees keep their leaves in the winter). I have now lived here in Perth for one year. Seen all four seasons. I now know what to expect in all months of year. The hot days of summer, and the wet days of winter. There are a few things I have not gotten use to yet though. Allow me make short list.

• Cockroaches being a common native animal. Walk around at night and there they go, running up and down the street/walls/garden. Some can even fly. YUCK
• The still ever present lack of ice. Why in such a hot country is ice so hard to get?
• Australians asking me if I am from Canada. No offense to my best buddy Mel in Sydney; But I am sure she gets "Are you an American" a lot too.
• Australian girls out doing me in the fashion department. Lets face it Australian girls have got it going on. I don't know how they manage to look so beautiful and well groomed all the time. (there are exceptions to be noted, but not many in the city). It makes us American girls look lazy, that or either we just like to be comfortable.
• Spiders that can kill you. Although I do not run into too many of them at our house in Perth thank goodness.
• The lack of Mr. Coffee style, drip coffee. Does this exist outside of America?
• People referring to all Americans as "Yanks", I guess they did not get any history on the American civil war in school. Clearly not all Americans are "Yanks" I would hate for them to make this mistake in some deeply southern towns.
• Large Birds (with claws) need I say more. Come and see for yourself.
• People walking down the street without shoes on, everywhere. And no one thinks its strange. Now I understand why Graham thought it was odd when I got mad at him for not wearing shoes in a fireworks store in Indiana. Its just normal here.
• Being homesick. I get it in waves.
• English Pudding..
• Fruit cake. Someone in the USA says fruit-cake and almost everyone in the room thinks yuck. In Australia you say fruit-cake and every goes "Yummy, can I have another piece."

I will leave it at that. Next time it will be all the things I love about Perth and Australia in general! Cause there is lots to love!

John Denver, Chicken Wings & Study

Howdy Partners...

Lately life has been flying by at a rapid speed. Not that anything too exciting is going on. I am all settled into the new job now. Check out this website to see what I am up too. http://www.buzzdance.come.au/ I will be tested soon as our next production goes into rehearsals next week, so I am enjoying the last week of clam before chaos breaks loose in our office.

I have also been rocking out to some John Denver as of late. It brings back a lot of good memories of being a kid and listening and singing along to John Denver songs in the car with my Mom. Songs like "Grandma's Feather Bed" and "Annie's Song" bring it all back. Gosh I was a lucky kid. I have the best parents!

I have broken out the crock pot for the winter; people in Australia call it a slow cooker, and they also seem to have a whole new batch of recipes I have never seen done in a crock pot. But then again Australians have never seen nacho cheese crock pot style. In fact there is a real lack of melted cheese products in Australia all together. I dream of fries (hot chips) covered in googey cheese better yet, lets make them waffle fries (something else they don't have down here), with maybe a little bacon and chives on top. Yum. Anyways off the subject, So far we have made Lamb shanks in the crock pot (Australian) and tonight it is chicken wings (American). So we are off to a good start!

I am busy worrying about all the things I want to do with the money I don't have. I am trying to plan a trip home this summer. I have gotten the first two weeks of August off work and okayed by my boss. Now to find a good air fair. I hope to include a stop over in Boise Idaho on my way back from Indianapolis. The problem is it is never long enough, when I lived in Sydney it took me about 26 hours to get from my house in Sydney to my parent's home in Indianapolis. But now it takes 36 hours to get from Perth to Indianapolis, times that by two and that means I would travel a total of 72 hours of my two week vacation. That always pisses me off. But its worth seeing my parents waiting for me at the airport and saying hi to old friends. But gosh its a long trip. I will also be going home without Graham this year and that adds a whole other layer to the trip. First guilt, cause I wish he could go too, and a slight heart ache cause I know I will miss him a lot while I am away. He can not come due to school commitments.

One more thing before this random post comes to an end. I thought of something I would love to do this American summer if I where to win the lottery this week. I would like to spend the whole summer following Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on their 2010 summer tour. I would also waste no expense flying out friends and family to join me at the locations of their choice. I know this is not every ones cup of tea, but it sure sounds like fun to me!

Okay that's it for now. The picture above is of me and my Kit cat in Graham's office. I took it just now! Cheers!