Six Years and Counting

Six years ago today my exhausted family dragged it's collective sorry tushes off of an airplane and stepped onto the New World.  Having never left the North American continent I had absolutely no idea what to expect   You can watch tv, movies and read books written about an area but that's simply not enough to explain all that you need to know about living there.  That can only ever be done by physically being there.  The actual sites, smells, visions all around you.  The words that are spoken and the feelings that all of this invokes; that's how you learn about a new place.

After six years I would not even remotely call myself an expert on Australian life.  How can I?  I've only seen a small tiny fraction of it.  However I have learned quite a bit about Aussies and myself.

Bits and Pieces that I learned only after moving here:

1.  It's considered rude to sit in the back of a cab.  That's right.  If you need to get a taxi you are expected to sit up front with the driver.  Aussies work very hard at not being pretentious....no one is too good for anything.  That includes sitting up front with the person you are paying to drive you around.

2.  They put beets on most sandwiches here.  Even hamburgers.  I had heard this one before we came here but honestly I thought it was a joke.  The joke was on me though when I ordered a hamburger and it came with the thick slice of purple death.  The beet is as ingrained in Aussie culture as Vegemite.  I have no idea why, no one can explain it to me.  It's just there...lurking.

3.  Equinoxes.  I've mentioned this in my blog before but it's worth repeating.  To an Australian, the first day of Spring is March 1st and the first day of Autumn (they refuse to call it Fall) is September 1st. Winter is June First and of course Summer is December First. When I asked what about the equinox I got a tight, "I'm just barely tolerating you, Yank" smile and was told again that it was the first of the month.  Sure the rest of the planet doesn't start tipping until the 21st of the month but apparently it starts tipping on the 1st here.

4.  Aussies put butter on rolls for sausages.  Seriously.  I can't handle that one.  I get downright belligerent when someone tries to hand me a buttered roll to put a sausage in.  Most of my close friends know not to do that.  My really close friends know to do it just to watch my head explode.

5.  Closing for a holiday means every bloody thing you need will be closed.  I grew up in the great retail world of the US.  Sure SOME things close on holidays but you could always find something open when you need something.  Not here.  Tomorrow is Good Friday and EVERYTHING will be closed.  Shops, gas stations, work, schools, libraries, movies, everything.  Now most everything will be closed again on Easter.  That one always confused me.  Everything is closed on the Friday but Sunday most reopen?  Again when I ask why I get a confused look.  Then I'm told, it just is....

6.  There are two kinds of mammals that lay eggs.  The platypus and the echidna.  I had NO idea!  I could have sworn there was only one.  Okay, maybe that's not a major "break in with the news" detail but I thought it was a cool fact.  They are both really weird looking too.  They definitely fit in with the theory that Australia is the land of weird stuff that couldn't survive anywhere else on the planet.

7.  My last information tidbit is about the Australian prime minister.  For the past couple of years our fearless leader is Ms. Julia Gillard.  I absolutely love that she is the prime minister of a large nation.  No, I'm not a Julia Gillard supporter; in fact I think she is a true politician and therefore not to be trusted.  However, I love that she is in charge right now.  Why?  Because she is so openly hated.  I don't know anyone who doesn't have a nasty thing to say about her.  Even the sweetest, kindest people I know have vile opinions about her.

So what's to love you ask?

Well,  I LOVE and adore that even though she is despised and reviled,  no one and I do mean no one hates her because she is a woman, an atheist and is unmarried and living with her partner.  They hate her because of what policies she supports and how she behaves in Parliament.  I still shake my head with surprise and shock when I think of it.

This woman couldn't have been elected dog catcher in Texas.  A state which openly touts a law forbidding atheists from holding public office.  You can be against funding for public schools, rally for the Klu Klux Klan and have multiple drunk driving convictions but as long as you go to church you are good to go in Texas.  It was heart breaking to live there sometimes.  It really was.

When I read about the political hypocrites back in the US screaming bloody murder about nothing and dead silence about important things I sit and think fondly about our dear hated Ms. Gillard and I thank God I live here.

I could go on and on about Australia and I'm sure I will in future posts.    If you've been reading my work for a while you know that many of my musings about Australia will contain my run-ins with the bugs, spiders and snakes.  I'm not going to lie to you and say I'm sure I will learn to appreciate them.  I firmly believe the little buggers are actively trying to kill me.  All I can hope for is that someday I can post about them without sobbing, hiccuping tears.  That will be a major step in my assimilating to Australia plan.

The next six years will be eventful for my family and me I'm sure.  You can't raise 3 kids moving into the teen years in a foreign country and not be eventful.  No matter what though, I do hope the years find us still here Down Under.  Come visit if you can.  I'll remind you about the beets.