Back in Brisbane

After a wonderful 5 weeks at home in Michigan, I have returned to the land of sunshine and bright colours. After arriving Sunday morning at 8am, I managed to stay awake until 9pm. I won't say I am 'over' the jetlag, but this time around it wasn't so bad. I returned to my apartment, only to realise (yet again), that I have far too much junk. Or maybe my apartment is too small? No, I don't think that is the case. While unpacking my suitcase, I began simultaneously organising/culling/putting away. I think I'm about halfway through this process. At this stage in my life, the apartment is too small to accommodate tons of stuff, so the solution is to not accumulate too much stuff. Simple. (ha)

I am in the midst of buying a car, which I am finding rather stressful. Depending on what happens with my job situation (still up in the air), I might be able to hold off buying it for a few months. That would probably make me feel a lot better. The way things are now, I need a car to get to where I am working, etc.

My scale tells me I gained 3.5 kilos while I was away in the US. This doesn't really come as a surprise, considering the reckless abandon with which I ate. Lots of large portions, junk food, greasy burgers with fries, and not enough exercise! But now that I am back, the spirit moves me to go forth and exercise! It's hard not to want to get out there and shake it when the weather is fantastic (if not a bit stifling yesterday), or feel too hot to eat much more than chilled watermelon and salad. A few weeks of that and I might lose those gained pounds!

Time for some breakfast, and a bit more organising. Dare I tackle the laundry/storage room?

Trying Again

Lately I've discovered that I am a Blogophile. If you have a blog, I have read it. If you have pictures posted somewhere, I have probably looked at them. I have a couple of blogs that I read all the time, and when I go to try and write my own, it never comes out quite as witty as I would like. So, here we go again. I'll see if it sticks this time...

The last few months of my life have been exciting and full of wonderful changes. I've been working as a part-time teacher since April, and working with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra as well. Both have been great, presenting challenges and many great opportunities. I am currently pursuing the job at the orchestra, and teaching jobs. We will see which one ends up happening.

I've been doing group training since June, which has really changed my life. For the first time since playing organised sports in high school, I have exercise as part of my weekly routine. It has been great, and I've become much fitter for it. Check out my trainer Stu, and his Ruckus Fitness website .

I might try to keep a blog while I am in Michigan, so I can be witty and tell stories about what I'm up to.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!

Picture posting practice

This post won't say much, but I am still figuring out how to place photos within my posts.

Employment!

After about a month being here, I have two nanny/babysitter positions. I had 6 interviews, and ended up getting jobs from the first interview (which I thought went horribly!) and the last. Mondays I will be caring for 3 boys, aged 1, 3 and 5--Henry, Joe and Jack. Luckily, Jack is at school until 3 each day, and they don't fall apart until about 4pm... Today was my first day, and it went pretty well. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I will be doing after-school care for two boys, aged 8 and 10--Calam and Aidan. I start Wednesday and then do a full week next week, and it should be pretty low maintenance. Life is pretty good at the moment.

Now that my "work schedule" is settled, I plan to go back to my English language tutoring for refugees and migrants. I don't think I'll go back to the museum on a regular basis, but I might see how things go after the first few weeks of work. I also need to get back into a practice routine in the next couple of weeks.

Last week, Thomas and I watched a rugby game with our friends, Jason and Lois. They all explained the rules to me, and for the most part I understand. It was rugby league, as opposed to rugby union. Somehow we got talking about snacks (we were eating some), and I realized that they don't have S'mores or Rice Krispie treats here. Hopefully I can make some, but as far as I can tell, they don't have graham crackers, either. They do have Rice Krispies, which are called Rice Bubbles here, so it is entirely possible. Along with my other plans, this will be one of my new missions.

Another busy week!

I've been here just over two weeks, and a lot has been happening. We have our TV now, and that makes the mornings a bit nicer. They have a couple of morning shows that I usually watch. Our landlord bought us a new couch, which is really nice. Very comfy.

Since I last posted, I have had three nanny interviews. I don't think I got the one I interviewed for on Monday. I haven't heard anything from them... maybe a blessing anyway. Thursday I interviewed with a very nice family with two boys. I think the family liked me, but it's a matter of other people possibly being more qualified. Yesterday I interviewed with a family who has one 5 month old baby, and a 2 and a half year old. They interviewed a lot of other people, so I'm guessing they'll find someone with more baby-specific experience. And today is my fourth interview. I am just going to keep looking and trying until I find something. Everyone I have met so far, I've offered babysitting services if they choose someone else. So we'll see.

My new book club was great. It had the potential for disaster, but turned out great. There were two gals (early to mid 30s) who started the club, a few other regulars, and two other new people. Everyone was very nice, and we also chatted about the book (which I guess is the point). We're meeting again in a couple of weeks. So far a couple have offered to get together for a movie, or coffee, so that is really good.

This week I might try to get my driver's licence, and also get a driving lesson. Most of the families looking for nannies wnat someone who can drive (even if not in their own car). We're also bike shopping. Thomas wants to get a bike to ride to work also, and we both want to enjoy the many bike paths in the area (I sound like a commercial for Brisbane...haha). We need to do a bit more comparison shopping, but we found a store in the city that can give us everything we need for a good price (and discount for buying two bikes, etc.). The challenge would be the many many hills here in Brisbane.

Hopefully more updates soon!

Settling In

This week I accomplished a lot of goals. Wednesday was when it began. The classifieds here are best on Wednesdays and Saturdays (as Thomas told me), so Wednesday I decided to look for nanny/babysitting jobs posted in the paper. I only found one, but I gave them a call. So far I haven't heard back from this family, which is ok because it got me rolling. I put together a resume appropriate for this situation, and tried to google the "going rate" for babysitting/nannying around here. While googling, I came upon a fantastic website (gumtree.com.au), with everything from TVs for sale, to friendship and dating ads. From there I stumbled on one great opportunity after another. I found a TV that is being sold by a couple moving overseas (imagine that!). It comes with a DVD player and TV stand, and we're picking it up today. I also found a book club, Literature Loving Ladies (nerdy I know, but I really want to find a book club!). So far, I have emailed them, and plan to join the group on Thursday. The book is 'The Book Thief,' by Markus Zusak, an Australian author, but the book is published in the UK and US. It is incredible, and I haven't even finished yet. Hopefully it's a fun group, and if not, I found out about this extraordinary book in the meantime.

I've also organized one interview for a nanny position--Monday evening. They are right up the road, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will work out. It will be great to have some income, and something to do. Not to mention, who knows who I might meet from there. I've been emailing with another family, and I might interview with them, but it's not for sure yet.

Otherwise, I do need to get out there again musically, which involves practicing! I've taken a bit of time off from that, so we'll see if we can't amend that situation. I'll keep my ear to the ground for potential low brass students, but I am trying to be patient.

Monday I go back to my volunteer job at the museum, so it will be nice to see everyone there.

Thomas is doing very well. He is enjoying having me back, and we've settled easily into a routine, though it's changing all the time. In early September he will be auditioning for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, so soon he will be working even harder toward that.

That's all for now. I might wander down to the store for a paper (it's about a 2-minute walk from here).

Day 7 Update

It gets dark here at about 5:00pm. This is very confusing for me, considering that it is summer at home, and it gets dark around 9:30pm there. So by 6 o'clock, I am thinking, "Wow, it must be closing in on bedtime!" Wrong! It's very weird.

Otherwise, I am trying to adjust to life again as an unemployed foreigner. I'm trying to fit in and make friends, and feel comfortable. I guess this is to be expected when you move to a new place (let alone, country). I'm planning on starting my volunteer job at the museum on Monday (my usual day there), and tomorrow I will begin my search for a possible nanny job (the best days for classifieds are Wednesday and Saturday apparently).

So far, winter here is very pleasant. I use the term, "winter," very loosely though. It does get chilly at night, and I am usually curled up tightly under the blanket in bed. But today on my walk into West End (about 30 minutes), I was glad to have put sunscreen on my face. The sun was very bright! I am slowly adjusting to walking everywhere I go. I definitely need to do more walking for exercise, which will make walking for transportation easier.

That's all for now. Hopefully next week I will have more exciting things to share!

Safe arrival!

After 28 hours of travel, I have finally arrived safely in Brisbane! Everything went according to plan, beginning with my flight from Detroit to LA, which left at 5:30pm on Monday, June 4th. I arrived in LA at around 7:30 LA time, and waited for my 10:30 flight to Auckland. Conveniently, the Northwest flights from Detroit to LA land in the same terminal as Air New Zealand, and also the same terminal as the $10 per value meal Burger King restaurant (!). I boarded the flight to Auckland, and from what I could tell, it was under 50% full. I ended up with my own row (although the arm rests didn't go up, so I couldn't lay across the three seats like most people--not a big deal), and had a pleasant 12-hour flight. The longest wait seemed to be when I was in Auckland, as it was the home stretch, and I just wanted to get the rest of the way!

Finally, I arrived in Brisbane, went swiftly through customs, and each of my 3 bags arrived on time. After going through the final screening, I purchased phone credit for my Australian cell phone, called Thomas, and was on my way to a taxi. Thomas was in rehearsal, so the landlords let me in the apartment and helped me with my luggage. The taxi cost about $45, which isn't too bad.

Since arriving back to the apartment, we've mostly sat around, and I've shown Thomas some of my new clothes. We're both very excited that I'm back, and adjusting to the fact that we don't have to do any math equations to figure out when we can talk to each other. : ) I took a short nap, but it felt like hours and hours. When I woke up, it was about 5pm, and already getting dark, so my body is VERY confused! I do think the trip was easier this time than last year, but we shall see.

That's all for now. I hope to post regularly this time around... we'll see how that goes.

For anyone who even reads this

I'm not sure if anyone actually reads this, but lately I have an overwhelming need to be heard (or in this case, read).

The wait for my visa is continuing. I am hoping that next week will be the magic week. That's what my mom said, and she's often right about matters of life and such. In the meantime, aside from working (and playing on the computer at said jobs) all I do is read. And I love it. My love of book stores and libraries even applies to the Charlotte Community Library, which has 6 rows of fiction at most. Despite its tiny size, there are still more books there than I could ever possibly read. Sometimes I have to try very hard to be humble when I think about the fact that I have a master's degree and teacher certification in two countries, and yet, I am excited when my weekly paycheck is over $300 (one week for one job, one week for the other--you get the point). Hopefully very soon this chapter of my life will end. And when it does, I may be slightly saddened that I won't have the time to read nearly a book a day, and at least I have improved my skills in patience. But man will it be nice to start teaching, after working a long time toward this goal.

Subbing

I've been subbing a lot lately, and it's pretty great. Today I went for a half day of middle school, and the teacher didn't leave any plans for me. I definitely prefer when they actually leave plans. I just can't wait until I will be a "real" teacher; my own job, my own students, real money. That will be the day. I don't think I'll believe it until I get my first real paycheck. And then I will frame it and hang it on the wall.

Michigan

I didn't do very well with this whole blog thing... Oops. Now I'm back in Michigan already, applying and waiting for my visa. Maybe I'll write in the blog from here and then by the time I go back to Australia, I will be an expert. Who knows.

Life is very different for me than it was two weeks ago. The weather couldn't be more different! Everything is covered in snow. It's nice to be driving again, although the un-plowed roads make for an interesting time. I have started working again as a security guard, and will be substitute teaching beginning next week. I'm trying to practice euphonium and catch up with friends, though both are proving to be very challenging. I guess I've only been home a week, so maybe I should give myself a bit of slack.

We're off to Myrtle Beach tomorrow morning to visit the family and see Sara and Mike's house. I am very excited!

Losing Thanksgiving

As my family and friends back home are eating their last bites of pumpkin pie, and washing the remaining dishes, I am here in Australia, where there is no Thanksgiving. People know about it, yes, but it went by without much fanfare here. Now that I've just spent time talking to the family on Skype, I have realized that I may never have a real Thanksgiving again.

I love Thanksgiving. I think I've always loved it because it's near or on my birthday, so growing up I guess I thought it was about me. And it's a great holiday because there are no presents involved. Just family and food. I will truly miss the Northern Hemisphere autumn, and everything that I used to associate with November. Orange leaves, turkeys, pumpkins, warm sweaters, apple cider... all things savory. Of course we will celebrate Thanksgiving here over the years, and I can introduce the tradition to my friends here. But we might have to create our own traditions.

Sunday we're having a barbeque for Thanksgiving and my birthday... well that's how I'm treating it. Others are treating it as the end of the year (school year, orchestra year, etc.). So it will be a fun experience to have a warm, sunny birthday.

Maybe someday we will move back to the US, and I can return to the cold winters and the beautiful fall season in Michigan, which I have always loved. Until then, I will try my best to keep from losing Thanksgiving.

Sydney!

This is update, part 2. At the beginning of October, I went to Sydney for a short trip. My friend, Jenn, who is studying in New Zealand was coming up to buy a flute, so we decided it would be best if I joined her. One of the coolest parts was flying in to the airport because we flew all the way across the Sydney Harbour, and I saw the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge and the city from the plane. It was very surreal, because Sydney has always seemed like such a faraway place (ok, it is), and I always pictured it to be blue and shiny (and it was!).

Thomas's former roommate, Ales, lives in Sydney, and we had met a couple weeks before... so I stayed with him and his girlfriend, Annabelle, for the first day. They live within a four-minute walk of IKEA, which was also surreal, as I had only appreciate IKEA from afar in catalogues. The first few hours I was there Ales showed me around a very Chinese-influenced suburb and we enjoyed cheap food en masse. Later I experienced IKEA with Annabelle and bought Thomas his very own milk frother (which he loves, by the way).

The next day was spectacular because Ales took me to the coast and showed me a few beaches and the cliffs around the edge of Sydney. It was beautiful (as you can tell by the pictures above). I got many pictures and saw the city from afar. We saw the world-famous Bondi Beach, which was very different from beaches I am used to (miles and miles of sand). The beaches in Sydney are in little coves, with some sand and surrounded by cliffs. It is very cool to see. That evening, I met Jenn at the airport and we retreived her brand new lovely flute and made our way to our hotel, which was right in the heart of the city, Darling Harbour. We found delicious greasy food and beer and had an excellent evening catching up. Day three was the one I had been waiting for. Jenn and I took a ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay (pronounced 'key'), and saw the Harbour Bridge (on which people were climbing), and the Opera House, which is very bright and shiny in the sun. We wandered around that area for awhile and saw the Opera House, bought a few postcards, etc. Later we wandered around the Rocks area of the city, which is where the first settlers lived. It was very cool and nothing like I had ever pictured Sydney to be. (Australia is just full of surprises!) We also found a very reasonably priced souvenir shop, although I am starting to wonder if souvenirs in the US aren't just really expensive.... I searched for a sweatshirt for mom, but alas, sweatshirts are hard to come by here. After several hours of walking, we were a bit baked by the sun, so we decided to head back for some A/C therapy. For dinner we found a great restaurant with beer and burger happy hour specials (not quite the Grubs specials I miss so much). It was yummy and Jenn had the hots for the waiter. For the rest of our evening we wandered around Darling Harbour and looked at the shops and watched people go by. It was excellent.

The trip seemed to end as quickly as it begun, and I left around 10am the following morning. Our hotel was very close to one of the train stations, so I walked there, seeing bits and pieces of the city again. The station was at the bottom of the Queen Victoria Building, which is such a neat old building--lots of shops and cafes inside, and old fashioned tiles. The whole building reminded me of an ice cream parlour from the 20s or 30s. It's on my list of places to see when Thomas and I go to Sydney in December.

I still can't quite figure out how to put pictures where I want them on this, so I'll have to put them all at the top again.

Pictures

Picture captions going clockwise-ish. Not too hard to match the captions to the pictures.
Kookaburra! There were a few scavenging for food at the picnic area of the mountain lookout.
A view of "downtown" Melaney. Nice shops. One with yummy gelato and lots of cheese from around the world.
The hinterlands of Queensland. Very beautiful and very different from what I thought Australia would be like.
Part of the winery with the hinterlands in the distance. Gorgeous view!
Beach at sunset. Very nice...
Stay tuned for pics and trip highlights from my mini-Sydney adventure....

Catch-up

I am not very good at updating the blog. I think that is mostly because I don't really know how to use it. Since I last wrote, I have been to a few new places, so I will slowly try to bring this up to date. A few weeks ago, our friend Paul took us up north to see the Glasshouse Mountains. It's about an hour or so north of here. It was quite enjoyable. The mountains are very strange looking, but it was beautiful. And we went on my first "bush walk," which was really just a hike through the woods. The pictures at the top of this are a couple of the mountains in the range.

After the mountains, we headed to Melaney, a town nestled in the mountains, or as they call it, the hinterlands. It was very nice and the cafe was good. It's a very organic, home-grown kind of town, so they had local ingredients and it was tasty. The views were really nice, and looked nothing like what I pictured Australia to be. I will attempt to post pictures of the views at some point.

Later on we went to a small winery, Summit Rise. It was cute and the wine was pretty good. We liked it, although the wine here in Queensland is not as good as in New South Wales or Victoria, which makes sense because it is very hot here. It was my first wine-tasting and I enjoyed it. Especially the chick peas as a palette cleanser.

After the winery, we finally made it to the beach! My first trip to the Pacific was in Caloundra. King's Beach I believe. It was very cool, though we didn't have to much time, as our friend Ales needed to get to the airport. I took a bunch of pictures throughout the day. Hopefully soon I will get to go to the Gold Coast.

Reminiscing

I can't believe I never realized how lucky I was to have an office to store my stuff and a guaranteed practice room anytime I wanted it. Well, I sort of knew it was unique, but now I really know. Here I am finding it difficult to practice... going to the Con is an option, but if students need my room, out I go. I can go to the TQO Studios, but the evening is really the only time. So, I fear that my playing is slipping beyond repair... Hopefully I can get it back. My goal is for our next apartment/flat/house to be more conducive to practice. It will work out, I just can't believe I used to have an office and didn't jump up and down everytime I went in there. Now I understand why some people stay in school forever...

New words I've learned...

Brekky=breakfast
She'll be right mate=it'll be ok (used in ANY circumstance; even if your arm has just been cut off)
Chips=fries
Crisps=chips (potato)
Biscuits=cookies
Uni=college, university, etc.
Boot=car trunk
Good on ya=Well done, great job
Pram=baby stroller
Nappy=baby diaper
Eupho=euphonium
Lift=elevator
Footpath=sidewalk
Flat white=espresso coffee with milk, as opposed to a long black, not bumpy white
Crook=sick
Dag=funny, as in "You're a dag!"
Ute=truck (Ford Australia's famous vehicle that looks like those old car/truck hybrids)

I know there are more... will add as I can remember them...

Also, every cafe here seems to have milkshakes! YUM!

Saturday market!

Today we went to the Saturday market in West End. I was expecting a modest farmer's market with a few produce stands and was just hoping to get a few deals. Well, was I mistaken! The market is spread out near the river, bordering a cricket oval (I believe they were playing rugby today), and it was packed with people. There were arty-crafty type things, probably 10 different produce stands, a few different coffee stands, fresh meat and fish (a bit fishy though), people sitting around playing digeridoo, flowers, and even crepes and smoothies, which we had for lunch. It was great! Definitely something for us to go to frequently on Saturdays (though not all the time because it could get ridiculous after awhile). We also found a booth with fresh herb plants, which I have been wanting for awhile. The lady gave us two cilantro plants (here they call them coriander) for free because the leaves were starting to turn a bit yellow. To top off our adventure, we saw signs for a garage sale, so we toddled over to that, while I secretly yearned for a large pot to boil pasta.... and lo and behold, there it was! We got a large pot and two saucepans for a very low price. It was excellent luck.

Last night was an evening of music. The orchestra played Brahm's Academic Festival Overture, Liszt's Piano Concerto (gorgeous---I had never heard it), and Beethoven's Sixth. The orchestra sounded great and I enjoyed sitting nearer to the front than usual. The orchestra has another run tonight and then tomorrow Thomas is playing the Penderecki Capriccio at a recital. Quite a busy weekend!

I've created a Blog!

After much wishy-washying, I've finally created a blog to commemorate my new and exciting life in Brisbane! (Thanks, TZ, for the idea... if you have time for it, goodness knows I do!)

So, stay tuned for information and pictures. Now that I have found some things to do with my time here, I will have many updates!

Now I will attempt to post a picture...