Settled

It’s settled, or should I say we’re settled. The last week has been, what’s becoming another great week in Australia. I went exploring Guildford a bit the other night and found a park so I jumped on my bike threw a soccer ball in my bag and played one on none for about an hour. I did a lot of running because there were no nets in the nets. At the end I decided to put the peddle to the metal and do some sprints. 20 minutes later while lying on the cold tiles between the toilet and the shower as white as Robert Pattinson (just as sick) I had time to contemplate the tactics and values behind training.

I get lost sometimes in the stories or daydreams whirling in my head and sometimes go a little overboard-on things. Watching the world cup had me dreaming of playing soccer and while I fumbled around with a ball on the field deking out imaginary players and scoring on no one I couldn’t help but enjoy myself and smile. I wasn't smiling while on the floor though as my dreams of becoming a professional merged with the floor on my clammy face.

I regret to say that I’ve also been enjoying some Tour de France and with my first ever road bike, I like to get on, whiz around, peddling until my legs burn like fire wondering how fast I can actually go dreaming of racing up a mountain. Then realizing I was maybe going 40 km an hour for the last 5 minutes and my legs can’t push as hard anymore I snap back to reality and have to relax or I'll be back on the tile. It’s actually mind blowing to think that those guys average 40 Km an hour, ride over 150 km a day and do it for 3 weeks!

Today has been another day of dreaming but it didn’t have anything to do with soccer and only a little to do with riding. I washed a car. Mostly I scrubbed the inside until it was lustrous, vacuumed and soaped up the seats, floor and I even went as far as spraying down the head board in attempt of making it smell fresh and clean. We bought a car! It’s a 1999 Toyota Camry Wagon, and it’s titillating. While I washed and scrubbed I was dreaming up adventures like driving up the coast with a surfboard in the back. Taking our bikes to a national park. Going on a road trip and camping. Hosting friends and family, showing them around a place we might actually know.

I’m excited for the stories that will come with the new vehicle. I’m also feeling quite settled though for a few moments yesterday that settling felt a lot like silt in the pit of my stomach as home seems a long way away. I’m over it now and can’t wait to see Australia!

C.

An eventful weekend

Yesterday I only had to work until 2:30 and the weekend was MINE! I came home, went to St.Peter's to pick up something cool for our coffee machine, then spent an hour walking to Newtown because we're too cheap to pay for the bus. (And by WE I mean Colin). We went to a sweet Thai restaurant and ate the best food I've eaten here so far. One of the dishes we ordered was a prawn salad that came with those clear vinegary noodles, had a bunch of veges in it, and was covered in a chili lime dressing. YUM! When I close my eyes I can still taste it. Then we walked to Broadway mall to watch Toy Story 3D. We went to the 6:50 show and it had a bunch of kids there which was really fun, minus the wiener kicking my seat. Afterwards we came home and watched the Netherlands beat Brazil 2-1. It was a jam packed night of goodness.

This morning after a breakfast of croissants, scrambled eggs, bacon, strawberries, pineapple, and cappuccinos, I decided to do some laundry. This normally isn't a difficult task but our laundry machine drains water via a hose into a sink and I failed to notice the cloth in the sink plugging the drain. When I walked to the kitchen 30 minutes later, I was extremely surprised to discover a small lake outside the laundry room. We spent about half an hour mopping up the mess and shammying the carpet. On the bright side, our laundry room has never looked cleaner! Our house is freezing so we have a heater on the carpet and I turned the oven on for a bit to warm the place up.

10 minutes after we finished cleaning, Colin came to find me in our room to seek out some advice. "What would you do if you found a lizard in the living room? Kill it or catch it?" The idea of squishing a lizard creeps me out and seems difficult and mean. After living with a fat gecko in creepy dorms our first week in Australia, I think they make Colin edgy. I offered to catch it for him because he always kills spiders for me. He assured me that he'd be fine.

All week I've been looking forward to Germany vs. Argentina playing tonight. Originally I was cheering for Argentina because they're incredibly skilled, but Germany handed it to England SO GOOD that I have a newfound respect for them. Now I don't really care who wins because they're both great teams.

Here is Colin releasing our friend back into the wild:

I hope everyone is enjoying the world cup. Australia only shows the games live at 12am and 4:30am but it's worth it!

E.

Soulful

I love my nephews! I was finally able to Skype with them today because it’s a new month and we get another 6 GB of Internet use (Happy Canada Day!). I’d like to say that those two have soul. The joy they have is cherished by anyone looking into it because we all want that kind of freedom. Laughter is so pure and has no limits or strongholds on it at that age. They just laugh and laugh, play and laugh enthralled by the attention and love sent their way. Those two put me in a great mood. I should talk to them every morning.

The other night I was sitting on our big leather couch, compliments of renting a fully furnished place, freezing my toes off trying to enjoy a T.V. series we rented called Glee. I looked over at Evelyn who was sitting, or should I say cocooned on the other side of the couch in her large fleece blanket with extra coverage on her face from the two oversized Kleenex splayed out from her nose and realized I’m cold. It’s winter and we have no internal heating. We only have one blanket. My socks are made for running, not warming. I brought two hoodies and no jacket. My wife’s slippers might fit if I force my feet in them. Apparently this is the coldest winter Sydney’s had in 50 years. I’ve also come to terms with the Australian’s ability to make claims. They like to claim: the largest cemetery, the kangaroo, the best sports supporters, the most deadly __________ , you get the picture. I don’t know if it’s the coldest winter they’ve had in 50 years but it sits well with my soul having something to blame for being such a cold complainer.

It’s time to relax for me. I’ve been given about 4 weeks off of school and now have some time to do some of the other things I love. I’ve been playing guitar, writing, swimming, riding, sleeping, cooking, and today I’m going to put my hand to the task of baking. Jenna Jensen suggested it because it’ll help warm the house up, in preparation for the sun set at 5pm. I generally let Eve do the baking but she’s getting too good at it. It’s time to make something that maybe we won’t want to finish in one day!

C.

Sachin the landlord

We don’t have a very large fridge and we share it with 2 other people, thereby decreasing our space even more significantly. Because of this, we go to the grocery store almost every day. Colin and I are now friends with the ladies at the meat counter and we know which cashiers are a little more pleasant. I went to a young girl the other day who I quite like and she asked me to remind her how much longer I’ll be here before heading back to America. I said that it wouldn’t be for another year and a half. She was quiet for a moment and then asked, “and HOW did you end up in Guildford?” I laughed and said it was out of desperation and we’re out of here as soon as our lease is up. She doesn’t live anywhere near Guildford so I’m not really sure why she would work in such a bad neighborhood. I’ll ask that next time.

Our landlord has been bombarding us lately with emails begging us to stay beyond our agreement. He moved back to India and is subletting the apartment to us trying to make some extra money. He furnished the place but is charging crazy rent because he found 4 desperate North Americans who didn’t know any better when signing the lease. Anyways, we told him that we could rent another 2-bedroom place in Guildford for $300 a week rather than the $420 he’s charging the 4 of us (not that we’d stay in Guildford). He called us liars and said that he’d give us this place for $400. Colin told him no deal and that we’d just like a reference letter and a receipt. He took this for hard-balling and is now sending us emails every few days telling us that he’ll sell us the furniture and charge us super low rent, that his father is sick, that we should just make him an offer, that he can’t go any lower, that he CAN go lower etc… I almost feel sorry for him but he totally conned us into renting an overpriced apartment in a super shady neighborhood AND he refuses to acknowledge me. Anytime I’ve ever emailed him, his response is always addressed to Colin. I can’t wait for the day when we stop paying him.


E.

Kosher

Colin finished exams last week and feels pretty good about them. Now he has a month off and I could see the panic in his eyes as he thought about what he was going to do with himself. I gave him LOTS of ideas. He needs to find us a new place to live, read a textbook on the back, and make me some dinner! I think he’ll find the time passing quickly.

I recently re-discovered two recipes that I’ve been wanting to make for a while: Hazelnut roasted pork with birch syrup, and Brussels sprouts with prosciutto and pine nuts. It took me a while to find all the ingredients needed here in Australia (pork is difficult to find when most of the butchers are muslim) but on Sunday I FINALLY rounded up everything we needed. We decided to wait until Monday night to cook our dinner and invite our friends Jenna and Willy over. I had to go to work Monday afternoon because a coworker became ill. I started feeling pretty terrible at work and the sniffles I had were escalading into a nasty head cold. I came home and starting making dinner quickly because it needed two hours in the oven. As soon as I got a whiff of the onions, garlic, thyme and rosemary frying, I was done for, I thought I was going to vomit. I went and lay down in bed while Colin finished it up, then he went swimming with our friends before dinner. I stayed in bed trying to sleep but just before 11 the entire contents of my stomach came back out, again and again. It's ironic that the meal I spent a week preparing for, I wasn't able to eat or even smell! I phoned my boss at 6am to tell him that I wasn’t able to come in today and being the perfect boss he is said, “Thanks so much for calling, hope you feel well soon.” I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this enough, but I love my job. Fortunately they were able to get a temp in.

You might also be wondering, “Have they received their coffee machine yet? It’s been 2 ½ weeks since they paid for their new one!” And the answer my friends, is no. We remain coffee less. Last week Colin phoned in to check on the status and a lady told him that she thinks they sold ours to someone else by accident. I think they’ve done that and are now ordering us a new one, which is why it’s taking sooo long. I feel sad when I look at the empty space on our kitchen counter and the coffee beans in our cupboard getting older each day.

E.

Espresso school and real school

Tonight I’ve been researching coffee. I’ve been pretty into this site lately called coffeesnobs.com.au and through them, found an espresso school in Sydney that’s having a special on classes for barista training & latte art. It may sound silly to some but the little designs they put on top of your foam really make the drink. I’ve always wanted to create something beautiful and I’m pretty sure that frothed milk is my calling. Colin and I are thinking of going in July sometime and now I can’t wait to sign up!

I’ve been working like stink this week and I can’t wait for the weekend. I’ve worked 33 hours in the last 3 days and my back is a little sore. It’s difficult for two people to work on a tiny tooth, in a tiny mouth, often awkwardly bent over trying to see. Not to mention hyperactive tongues that tire my arms out. I think that could seriously be my job title: Professional Tongue Wrestler. I pin them down but they always squirm out. People don’t even realize what their tongues are doing. I think they would be embarrassed if they knew the trouble I went to keeping them safe from a sharp burr travelling at 400,000 rpm.

Colin has been slumped over a desk the last few days so I will cease my complaining. He’s had 3 practical and 2 written tests in the last three days, has a huge anatomy exam tomorrow, and then 4 more finals next week. Cruel. They’re going well but his morning bathroom routine speaks for itself…

From our bums to yours,
E.

Fighting 'The Man'

Our trusty "old" espresso machine

When the drama in your life revolves around an espresso maker, I shouldn't complain. However, Colin is enthralled in his books right now, so this coffee machine is all I've got at the moment. We have tried to get used to the new machine but 90% of the time it explodes on us. It doesn't matter how hard or soft we tamp the grinds, we think that something was wrong with the seal on this one too. Last time I talked to Myers Department store I was told that we couldn't return a machine just because we didn't like it. So I decided to take my issue to the website and write them about my situation. I was phoned less than 24 hours later and the manager told me to come in, pick out a new machine from the choices he had give me, and he'd give me a fat discount. Upon our arrival to the store today I was assisted by a diva sales clerk, Andrew, who was adamant on belittling me. I didn't dwell on it because I knew I was going to get a great deal and leave home with the new machine TODAY. We've been buying coffees for the last week and I felt very ready to get back to our economical routine.

Andrew called the manager, Luke, as soon as we walked away from the counter because he didn't believe my story. I noticed Luke standing there so I went over to ask for his help. The machines he suggested over the phone were pretty junky so he told us we'd have to go up in price for a better model or else he'd just give us a full refund. We found one that we wanted, got a discount quote, and then went to 4 other stores to compare prices. After way too much time at the mall, Colin was starting to get antsy because he had to get home to study. We decided to spend more and go back to Myers to get the discount. The only sales person on the floor was Andrew and he looked very disappointed to see me back again. We told him which one we wanted, he sauntered to the back to get it for us, and then sent a coworker over to us to tell us that they didn't have it in stock, while he went to stand in another part of the store. I felt pretty sad about it but I wasn't going to waste another minute browsing. We filled out a form, PAID for our new appliance, and now we'll have to go back, again, in about a week when it's delivered. I suggested getting it delivered to our apartment instead but was told that it would cost ME too much to do that. haha. Then just as we're about to leave, pretty disappointed that we'll be without coffee for exam week, Andrew shows up to say, "Just so you know, Luke was fine with refunding the machine today, but we don't normally do that JUST because you don't like it." I kept my mouth shut while Colin explained that this one had something wrong with it too and then we left. I resent department stores. And Andrew.

As Colin and I sat waiting for the train to go home, coffee less, I asked him if we were suckers, and he said, yes.


Our new machine

E.