Speaking Australian

R.T. and I have always made it our practice to learn a few words of the language of the country in which we are travelling to. Once we arrive, we try to experience as much of the culture as we can, even if this means we don't see as many "touristy" attractions.
Since being here in Australia, we have tried to use australian words as much as possible. We do not expect the australians to learn "american" as they did not choose to have americans in their town. With this said, sometimes it is a bit exhausting to always be thinking of the proper thing to say, such as........a lightweight jacket is called a jumper, a shopping cart is called a trolley, a bicycle is called a pedal pusher, a pick-up is called a ute, a swimsuit is called a tog, a hot drink is called a cuppa, McDonalds is called Macca's, a Mocha is pronounced mocca (as in moccasin), a meal is usually referred to as tea, people say "how are you going" instead of "how are you doing", bangs (on your forehead) are called fringe, underwear are called knickers, there are no "physicians" - only doctors. gas is called petrol, Abbie does not say that she is in the 3rd grade - she is in grade 3, glasses are spectacles, if you do a good job - you are told "good on you", and if you are correct - you are "spot on"..etc...I need to end now as I am completely buggard out(o.k. there is a very small percentage of people that might say that is a borderline bad word) I think that it is a fun word to say though.
Sooo, this all becomes difficult, when I am jogging with my group of friends and I have to not only remember to breathe and not fall over my own feet; but I have to pay attention to their accent, think about what I am saying, look the right direction for cars and run on the correct side of the road, then calculate my distance in kilometers.....phew, no wonder why I go to bed completely exhausted!!

Didgeridoo

Either you are more up on your Aboriginal musical instruments than I was or you are very good googlers. Most of you knew what a didgeridoo was, but did you know how to play it. It is a very difficult instrument to play. I equate the sound to a boat's horn when leaving the harbour; or possibly a sound that it usually accompanied by an "excuse me". It is not a sound that goes well with a well tuned violin. It fits better with an orchestra of drums. To play the instrument you need to relax your lips, turn your tongue to the inside of your mouth, breathe in and breathe out while continueing to make the instrument play. R.T. will have it perfected by the time we get home and will give a concert to all who are interested.

The instrument is made by from a hollow piece of timber, due to termites eating through the center of the branch or trunk, which in general is Eucalyptus. Once the bark has been removed from the outside of the Eucalyptus, and the termites removed from the inside, the Didgeridoo is ready to be played. Often beeswax is placed over the rim of the Didgeridoo to act as a softer mouthpiece. It is then decorated in Aboriginal art that tells a story using pictures. R.T.'s tells a love story. Even though we have the words that go with the pictures, we cannot interpret the story...sorry.

Lastly, did you know that the didgeridoo is used for treating Sleep Apnea. It has to do with th way that the instrument is played. It exercises the muscles in the mouth and supposedly makes it easier for people to breathe while sleeping.

celebrities ???

A man from the newspaper came last week and interviewed us. Little did we know that it would be a 1/2 page article with our picture. It was an article that included everything from how R.T. and I met to why he is called R.T. and not R.C. to R.T.'s view of medicine in Australia. We were a bit disappointed that everything that had to do with God leading us to where we are now, turned out to be "just fate".

It has made things a bit difficult this week. Yesterday, I went to the market and butcher. I opened my mouth to say "I will take 8 of those". The lady next to me said "oh, you are the new doctor in town...." Five minutes later, I was able to leave with not only some food but a new friend. R.T. was leaving the hospital on Monday when a couple, whom he had never met, said "how is your wife, Letitia, enjoying Kingaroy and your kids Cassim and Abbie...." They had completely memorized the article. People here are so friendly and they really do "give a care" about the person next to them. So, yes, while we have been inconvienced, had a few more stares them normal and felt a little like our privacy has been invaded; it is nice to know that there are people who really do care.

melbourne

One of the many trams

feeding leftovers to the birds

Australia's coat of arms

We recently returned from a very quick trip to Melbourne. A couple of weeks ago, R.T. noticed that he had four days off, so he googled last minute trips to Melbourne....and off we went. We ended up being there 3 nights. Melbourne is Australia's city for arts and theatre. An hour after arriving in the city, we were able to obtain tickets for "Wicked" This was a play that we had wanted to see in the states, but were not able to . We were all blown away by the performance. We spent the entire following day at Queen Victoria's Market. Girls....this is where it is at. Vendors come and "set up shop" and sell their goods at rock bottom prices....that is if you know how to barter them down (some of us got better deals than the others :-). We were able to buy a lot of souvenirs and a few clothing items - oh yes, we bought a duffel, so that we could get the stuff back to King*roy. Cas was very excited about his purchase of a roo hide. We are praying that we can get it back into the states. R.T. also got his Australian souvenir (see poll). The next day, we went to the Melbourne Museum. It was quite impressive. We were able to learn about some of Melbourne's history; as well as, some more history on Aboriginals. R.T. and Cas enjoyed all the science and nature exhibits as well,; while Abbie and I enjoyed the gift shop.

We are still in awe of what we have been able to do while we have been here. We do not feel like we are deserving and we are constantly reminding the kids and ourselves that this is truly a blessing from God.

Christmas Pictures

Hervey Bay, The day after Christmas





Australian "snow ball" fight about to begin




R.T. hitting Abbie with a big "snowball"





a true aussie





The best Christmas Present. A Care package from home


No explanation needed

Merry Christmas

For those of you who do not have an insanely busy Christmas and are able to catch up on some blogs.....MERRY CHRISTMAS.
We have come to terms with having Christmas in shorts and are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with some traditions from home and also some newly adopted traditions.
Our children will open stockings tonight (Christmas Eve). This is American. The tradition here is to open a huge "santa sack" first thing on Christmas morning - alot of times prezzies are opened on Christmas Eve. Instead of attending a Christmas Eve service, we will attend a Christmas morning service. We will have our traditional fancy breakfast and a big dinner in the evening. An Australian tradition that we are looking forward to is having plum pudding. We have been invited to a friends house to "fancy our tastebuds".
The kids will be surprised with their final gifts. They get some squirt guns. They get to go outside with dad and grandpa and "cool off" This is an Australian tradition. Supposibly it is against the drought rules, but it is not strictly enforced on Christmas :-)
We will leave on Friday morning and will head to the beach for a couple of days. This is what most Australians do for the holiday.
May God bless you all this holiday season with good times with friends and family and a closer relationship with Jesus Christ.

Clubs

O.k. there is a club for everything. I would say in our town alone, there is probably 25 or more clubs (i.e. woodworking, swimming, autism etc). Most clubs require a gold coin ($1,$2)donation to participate. I have been part of the "go getter girls" for about 6 weeks now. We are a running group. We meet at 5:30am on Mon, Thurs and we run 5k's. On Tues and Sat. we meet at the same time; but on tues, we do cross training and Saturday, we run between 10 and 12k's.
This morning was our last run for the year. When we arrived, we found that we were going to have a party. Our coach started by saying that a surprise guest travelled from a far to attend. Little did I know, I was the surprise guest. They introduced me to an Australian Christmas, including beach chair, cooler, and a decorated beach hat. I also learned to play backyard Cricket. The party ended with an Australian snowball (a cup of water)being thrown at me.
It was a very nice way to curb some of the holiday homesickness blues. I have said before...Australians have to be some of the friendliest people around.