The Jean Who Saved Christmas, 25 Dec 2012

Christmas eve Jean and I went to midnight mass at Trinity College with the Canterbury Fellowship. Great music, but a bit heavy on the incense, and lasted until 1:30am. So Christmas morning started with a late breakfast of fruit toast french toast on the deck. Fruit toast is like cinnamon raisin bread, but "it has sultanas in it." (This is what every person who I've talked to about how delicious fruit toast is has responded.) Thanks to Google, I can tell you that a sultana is a white seedless grape that's dried. Thanks to the Christmas experiment, I can tell you it also makes delicious French toast.

We enjoyed some quality time with the dogs, and then headed out to the Melbourne aquarium on free public transport. Thanks to all the tram and train drivers who worked on Christmas so people could enjoy the holiday with their families!

Jean and I thought the aquarium would be pretty quiet on Christmas day because everyone would be home with their families. Turns out many Jews, Hindus, Muslims, atheists and other non-Christian folks thought the same. It was pretty busy. The penguins had a lot of people to check out.

Fortunately, having all those other people around meant that it was easy to find strangers willing to take a picture of the two of us. Although maybe we were the strange ones...

Jean wanted to go diving with the sharks, but alas, they were all booked during her time here. So we both vowed to do diving lessons so we could do the Great Barrier Reef next time she visits...

In place of diving with the sharks, Jean got a picture with a squid. Now she's telling people that's what happened to her back. Apparently "attacked by squid" is a more glamorous tale than "therapeutically suction cupped by a secret Asian man."

When we got back to the house, preparations commenced for the Christmas meal. I played the dual supporting roles usually held by our mom and grandma. So I was MommyG, sous chef ("what can I do next Jean?") and Grandma Thelma (washing dishes galore). Jean really does use every pot in the kitchen - some of them twice.

After we got all the bits of the lasagne ready and the lasagne assembled, we realized we couldn't remember how to light the aged gas oven. Janet had showed us before she left, but all Jean and I remembered was that she basically climbed into the oven with a lighter. I tried that, Jean tried that, but besides it being a tight fit (Janet is smaller than we are) nothing happened. No gas coming into the stove. So our eyebrows were safe, but things didn't look hopeful for the lasagne.

At this point it was around 6:30 pm, the breakfast fruit toast and the "Lord of the Fries" chips we shared before the aquarium were a distant memory. I was getting the kind of irascible I get when hungry. Not exactly embodying the Christmas spirit. Couldn't reach Janet for assistance...I was thinking of throwing some chicken on the grill, or calling the fire station around the corner to give them some entertainment and get us some help. Jean was undaunted. She hopped on the internet and figured out there was a little lever we needed to wiggle to get the gas flowing - and the stove lit no problem. Christmas dinner was saved!

With the meal under control, I decided to give the dogs a bath - they are supposed to be white but had been darkening shades of gray since our arrival. And stinky. Particularly since we'd given them real bones from the market that they'd been gnawing on outside all afternoon. Each one had bits left on their little faces, which would later be in the bed with us. Ick. Nice to have dogs that fit easily into the laundry sink.

Dogs clean, food prepared, Jean and I sat down for a fabulous Christmas dinner, including home made rhubarb apple crisp. When we were finished we looked at how much was left, and agreed we'd never eat it all. So we took most of the left overs over to the fire station. That was more fun than having them come to our place because we blew up the oven.

Janet had thoughtfully left presents for Jean and I (and the dogs) under the tree. This was fortunate, because Jean and I didn't get each other anything and I had already opened the presents from home. (Thanks, family!) I got a cute handbag sized umbrella. (Janet has been nagging me to get one - apparently looking like a drowned rat isn't particularly professional. I have been resisting because I don't want one more thing to carry around while I'm walking everywhere. Plus, every time I've gotten wet, I dry out after. It's not like it lasts forever.)

Jean got an apron and a tea towel. If we had opened gifts first, she totally would have worn that while cooking!

We wrapped up the day lounging on the couches and watching NCIS re-runs on TV, just like we would at home in Kalamazoo. So while we were far from family (we video skyped with them the next morning), and the couches are too short, it still felt like a Gullickson Christmas. I am so glad Jean was able to come and bring that home-feeling along with her for my first Melbourne Christmas!

Melbourne Christmas, 25 Dec 2012

Melbournians really get into the Christmas spirit. The city is quite festive. Many of the city squares are decorated, buildings are lit up at night. It's been helpful for reminding me that it's Christmas - since the weather doesn't feel Christmas-y in the least. Here's a few sites from around the city.

During the day, city hall is wrapped like a Christmas present

At night, a light show that makes the city hall look like a present, and a variety of other things. The sidewalk across the street from this building was packed with people watching the pictures change.

This is the corner where the main shopping district starts - like Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis.
They've strung bells above the street the whole way down.

Flinders Street Train Station, celebrating in the heart of downtown Melbourne.
Elizabeth Street runs downhill into Flinders with cars and three tram lines. You can see the station from several blocks away. It makes me happy, even when it's not decorated for the holdiay.

This bridge is not too far from the Grand Hotel. It is the biggest mistletoe of all time.
So far I haven't seen anyone kissing under it...

This is in the same city square where the kids come to see Santa.
I didn't even notice it when I went by earlier in the day, but at night it's quite lovely.

It's the whole story of the birth of Jesus adapted from Matthew and Luke.

A blessed Christmas to all!

Not to 50! (22 Dec 2012)

Today Jean and I went to Queen Victoria Market and to Lygon Street to get the goods for making our holiday meal. Afterward, Jean went to get a massage and I went to a house inspection. Here's what happens when I leave Jean alone for 2 hours. (She says, "Here's what happens when you let Amy schedule a massage for you.")

The Secret Asian Man I found on the internet who does massage in the neighborhood used vacuum cups to suck the sore out of Jean's back. Apparently it only bruises in places where you have something out of whack. 'Nuf said. She said the whole time he was doing it she was thinking, "NOT TO 50!!"

Driving Miss Jeannie, 20 Dec 2012

Over the holidays, Jean and I are house-sitting for Janet (boss) and her husband. Part of the package is use of their car. After 6 weeks, I still think sometimes when people drive by me "Why is that driver texting (or reading a book, or doing a crossword)?" This whole other side driving takes a bit to get used to.

When I arrived in Melbourne I had these lofty I ideas about how I would get some lessons from a driving school to help me acclimatize to driving on the opposite side of the road. What happened is that the night before Jean arrived Janet took me for a drive out to the airport and then around the neighborhood. I turned on the windshield wipers every time I wanted to signal a turn (turn signal is with your right here), and Janet said "Stay to the left, the left!" and "You're drifting, you're drifting again" a lot. Apparently side-swapping drivers tend to drift to the left because it's terrifying to be looking right into the oncoming traffic. I am no exception.

We drove around for a half hour including some neighborhood and freeway driving. I pulled back up in front of the house and Janet announced, "I need a glass of wine." Having taught 3 boys to drive has given her nerves of steel, or we would have gotten to that point a lot sooner.

On the bright side, Jean arrived safely on Thursday morning,

and I drove by myself to the airport to get her! Now when we drive somewhere and I give her my handbag to put on the floor by her feet she says, "I can't put it down there. The gas pedal is there."

Hot Tub, 2 Dec 12

The first week I was staying at Steve's I did my usual Saturday house hunting. I should have been keeping track of how many miles I've put in on foot, trams, trains, and buses getting around the city seeing places. It's a lot. I was out from 8am to 3pm in 85+ degree weather. At the end of the day, my whole right leg was a mess - really sore and tight, with a swollen knee from all the walking. Since I couldn't bring Will Arbogast (physical therapy godsend at Sindecuse Health Center) with me, I was really looking forward to the hot tub to get the knots out - it was one of the reasons I picked Steve's place over some others on airbnb. My place at uni college did not have a bath, and Melbourne is usually under severe water use restrictions, so the hot tub was a fantastic luxury. I was really looking forward to it.

Now the water out of the tap everywhere I've been in Melbourne so far is scalding hot - as in, don't-put-your-hand-in-it dangerous. I got down to the hotel pool, salivating with anticipation of a whole tub filled with water so hot I'd be barely able to stand it. And.... it was slightly warmer than a lukewarm bath. So much for getting all those knots out of my leg. Just another opposite in the land of opposites.

It's a beautiful pool area, though. On the bright side, frozen peas in Australia are just as cold and good for icing swollen joints. By the end of that day, Steve had two bags in his freezer.

Latest digs, 30 Nov 2012

From 30 Nov - 17 Dec I've been staying at a place I found on airbnb.com. It's a service where folks with spare room can rent it out to folks who need a place to stay - usually travelers on holiday. It's a bit strange at first, but the two times I've done it, it's been good overall.

Here's the deal: Steve, my host, has a three bedroom apartment in the Grand Hotel. The first two floors of the hotel are privately owned apartments, the top 3 floors are hotel rooms. (This will be important later.) Steve rents out two of the bedrooms in his apartment through airbnb. The pictures are the views that greet me when I arrive home at night.

Then there's Steve. He's 6'2, an esrtwhile volleyball player, fireman, and just applied for an evaluation job with the fire department. I kid you not.

At first glance, this was the perfect spot, with just one drawback. The view outside my bedroom window is a whole lot of train tracks. And if you look in the lower left hand corner of the picture, you can see a tram as well. This corner is a hub of activity: 8 trams run by the front and side of the building and trains come and go from Southern Cross station behind the buildling. Super easy to get anywhere in the city, but not the best venue for the light sleeper.

How many pictures can she take in an hour's walk?! 11 Dec 12

Here are a few funny/interesting things I saw on my wander around Sydney

I think this is harbor art

At first I thought I would take these stairs up to the bridge. Then I realized there was no way in or out.
Then I saw what was lurking in the top corner...

Under a different bridge there were four painted murals of Sydney's history. I liked this one the best because of all the motorbikes in front of Sydney 1793. Things have changed a bit, I guess.

This made me think of Jean and Boston. On the way out to our meeting we did drive through a HUGE, long tunnel.
Maybe Sydney had a similar big dig experience.

Coffee shop

Merry Christmas boat

Sydney again, 11 Dec 12

On my quest for the bridge, I also found a few other things worth sharing

Apparently this amusement park captured the sun, so it couldn't shine on my first visit to Sydney. Bastards.

 

I came around under the bridge and thought, "Wow, someone built an office building that looks just like a boat. They must really love boats here." Turns out it was a cruise ship the size of a building.

Tall masted sailing ship, cruise ship, opera house. I walked past a hotel where this was their view for breakfast.
I'm guessing that cost about one million Baht.

This an early harbormaster's office. It's close to the water (they've built the harbor up)
and surrounded by lots of modern buildings.

A pretty tree lined street on the way back to my hotel

Grace Hotel lobby, all fancy for Christmas

Sydney First Look, 11 Dec 12

Just got home from a whirlwind trip to Canberra and Sydney. In Canberra we met all day with folks from Australia AID (similar to USAID) to talk with them about evaluation in AusAID, what we offer in terms of coursework at CPE, and our upcoming capacity building work in the Philippines this year. Then we zipped off to Sydney for today's meeting with AiMedia. They have been working on a project to offer real time captioning of teachers' lectures to deaf and hard of hearing students. Both will be interesting projects I think.

No time for photos in Canberra - airport-AusAID-airport. I had an hour and the Google map on my phone this morning to take a wander around Sydney before breakfast and work. It took me a bit to figure out where THE bridge was, so I was pretty excited to see it peeking above the tops of buildings. The photos are me creeping up on the bridge, and what I found when I looked under it. 

No help here figuring out where the bridge is...

 

Big walkway along the ocean - lots of joggers and one friendly off leash dog.

Hey, those flags are on the top of the bridge!

Bridge towers

Biggering

Requisite long arm picture - good morning hair

Do you see the guy at the bottom? That'll give you a sense of scale!

Look what else I found!

This ain't no hand holding study hall, 30 Nov 2012

Friday 30 Nov, I said farewell to my various meal-time pals and moved out of the lovely Uni College apartment. I was headed to the other side of downtown Melbourne with my 3 suitcases and two tote bags, which had to spend the day in the Uni College office while I was at work. I walked out of the apartment on the way to breakfast at 7am Friday morning and it was 85 and 100% humidity. I considered the 3 trips I'd need to get my bags to the office, plus the walk to work and decided to just wear my gym shorts and t-shirt for the duration. The trick was I had to be cleaned up and ready for a meeting with a client by 915 that morning.

I hauled bags, grabbed my dress clothes and hustled to work.I didn't even get to see the dog. I arrived totally sweaty, cleaned up Heifer style (handi wipes!), put on my dress up duds. When I walked back into the office, Marion, our admin superstar, said, "Oh, Amy, here's where you turn on the air conditioning for your office." Apparently I still looked warm. She also helped me with a quick fashion consult (belt or not with my blue sleeveless cowlneck - too hot for a suit coat). I said, "Thanks. I worry about my fashion sense." "Well, Amy, you shouldn't. That's a beautiful top. That is... you shouldn't worry if you picked it out."

I love Marion.

My colleague Ruth and I headed for the tram to go to the meeting. On the tram there was one of the usual characters - not sure if he was drunk at 915am or had some other issues, but at least he was friendly. Lots of shouting, but to stop the tram for folks who were trying to catch it, offering to help ladies up the stairs, etc. This probably would have been more well received if he wasn't wearing worn out cargo shorts and a plaid shirt completely unbuttoned with nothing underneath. (I was a bit jealous - it was now 90 degrees and 100% humidity). I caught his eye and then it was on. He was shouting at his neighbor about how that guy should make himself helpful by assisting lovely ladies like the dark haired one (Ruth) and the blue-eyed one (me).
"YOU SHOULD REALLY BE HELPFUL TO LADIES LIKE THIS ONE. LOOK AT THOSE BLUE EYES."
Then he came over to me and said,
"HELLO BLUE EYED.... LADY" (seemed like he wasn't sure what to call me)
"Hi there"
"YOU'RE A YANK!"
"Yes."
"WHERE YOU FROM?"
"The US"
(eye roll from him. i guess he was pretty with it.).
"Well, that's where Yanks are from."
"YOUR EYES ARE VERY BLUE."
"Thank you."
"WHATS YOUR NAME?"
and he stuck out his hand for me to shake, so I took it. Thinking a) this is probably a bad idea, b) probably no one is ever nice to this guy so just stay calm and do it, and c) I probably shouldn't tell him my name but it's too hot to have a back up plan.
"Amy."
"WELL, THAT'S A LOVELY NAME"
Then he proceeded to chat me up, still holding on to the hand I'd given him to shake. He was sitting diagonally across the aisle from me, so we were basically blocking the aisle with our hand holding. After another tram stop went by I said, "Can I have my hand back?"
"NO."
Ok then. More chatting. I really don't have a clear memory of what we talked about. He asked a lot of questions - the usuals I get, like how long have I been here, where do I work, what do I do, etc.

The guy sitting directly across from me thought the whole thing was hilarious. In fact, I suspect we were getting quite a bit of attention from everyone on the tram - they aren't that spacious. I was pretty focused on staying calm and trying to find a polite way to get my hand back.

As we came up to the next tram stop, the guy across from me wanted to disembark. So he asked my new friend if he could let go of my hand so he could get to the door.
"NO."
My heart sank a bit.

"BUT HOW ABOUT THIS?"
And he started to lower our hands down to the floor of the tram so this fellow could step over. More chuckling from the surrounding folks on the tram, and a smile from the guy who was trying to get out of the tram. Then, thank heaven Ruth stepped up:
"Amy, this is where we need to get off."
"Ok, then, I need my hand back. Gotta go!"
There was a brief tug of war, but eventually I came away with my hand intact and Ruth and I and our seatmate escaped the tram. There was more chuckling from that guy, and the other folks getting off at the stop. As the tram zipped past us, my hand holding pal was in the window waving. So I waved back.

Another day, another friend.