Melbourne Cup, Nov 2013

Last year, on my arrival in Melbourne, my plane landed on the first Saturday in November. I was standing in the Melbourne airport with John Hattie (who'd arrived to greet me), waiting for Janet (who was coming in on a different flight). I felt completely bedraggled from the long flight from LAX, and the flights before that from Kalamazoo that got me to LAX. My teeth needed brushing. I felt all greasy and stinky. Meanwhile, the whole airport was filled with men in suits and women wearing these fantastic dresses, looking all crisp and beautiful. Their luggage carts were 1/3 hat boxes. I started to think that perhaps I had made an uninformed choice about my decision to move here - this was not a fashion standard I was prepared to uphold. I turned to John, who, thankfully was wearing a polo shirt, shorts, and flip flops, "Isn't Australia supposed to be pretty casual in terms of dress?" "Oh yes, Amy, generally, but it's the Melbourne Cup this week." I had no idea what that meant, but I was really grateful not to have gotten that part about Aussie culture wrong.

Since I've been here a year, I've had a bit of time to learn about the Melbourne Cup http://melbournecup.com/ . It's one of the biggest events in Melbourne (which is saying something when you consider we host THE TENNIS) - and maybe the entire country.It happens on the first Tuesday in November every year and it's a public holiday - most businesses and restaurants are closed. They call it "The race that stops the nation."

At Melbourne Uni, it's more of a pause - the university doesn't close. But everyone in the Graduate School of Education who didn't take a vacation day [leave day] does gather in the staff lounge to watch the race, drink a glass of champagne [bubbles], have some snacks [nibbles], and check how they've done in the betting pools [sweeps] - all of which are sponsored by the college. It's fascinating.

The whole city is mad for it for several days before - there are races all weekend leading up to the big race on Tuesday afternoon. There's a parade. People everywhere are dressed quite fancily - guys in suits, women in dresses, high heels and "fascinators" which means a non-hat hat for ladies (it's what was in all those hat boxes my first day at the airport). You can check out the fashion here: http://www.vogue.com.au/culture/racing+carnival/galleries/what+they+wore+melbourne+cup+2013,27393?pos=3#top


This year, a friend happened to be celebrating his birthday at a pub not too far from the race grounds. I rode my bike over around 8pm to raise a glass, and found the ENTIRE pub packed with men in suits and womein in spectacularly high heels and feathery fascinators - and they had been drinking all day at the races. I, of course, was nattily dressed in jeans, sandals, and a fleece (it's spring here). Luckily I had tucked my bright green high visibility jacket in my handbag before walking into the bar. At least I had recently showered and brushed my teeth this year.

One year anniversary, 2 Nov 2013

Much to my surprise I've already been in Australia a year. Although, technically, since I've been traveling internationally for about a total of 9 weeks, I'll have my "feet on Aussie soil for one year" anniversary sometime in January.

Here's a few notables from the year:

Travel  

I felt like I traveled a lot this year. So I did a recap and added it up.
International flights included 4 trips to Manila, 2 trips to the US including Minneapolis, Kalamazoo, Phoenix and DC
Domestic flights included 2 trips to Sydney, 2 trips to Brisbane; Perth and Canberra - all of which totaled up to 77,831 miles flown (more than three times around the world).

Plus here in Victoria Australia I've been to Phillip Island (fairy penguins), Daylesford (hot springs, the Ronins, and truffle hunting), Lorne and Anglesea (Great Ocean Road), and lots of bike outings, a few of which turned into Gilligan's Island style three hour tours. I've got pictures of most of these to share, I promise to post them on the blog one of these days. It amazes me how much I haven't seen of the city and Victoria - still lots to explore!

Home

After two months and a bit of being in transition, I leased a great house, my furniture arrived and I started renting out my spare room through airbnb.

I've not done it this semester - too much travel and work. But before I shut it down in August I'd had 13 guests who stayed a total of 58 nights. A great way to meet really lovely people and be able to use my spare room for friends who need transitional housing, and visiting guests!

 

Broken and sick

One stress fracture = 6 weeks in moon boot
Toe laceration = 6 weeks of bandaging (but no stitches!)
Bike incident = 3 stitches (and no, I won't show you the scar)
One sinus infection
One horrid case of the flu
And probably another cold or two. Takes awhile to adjust to a new country's set of germs! I've also been going to the "osteo" for PT on my hip and back, leftover misalignment from time in the boot (and by that I mean on my foot, not the trunk of a car). This involved needles, chiropractic adjustment, massage, stretching... osteo = jack of all trades, as far as I can tell.

Teaching

Taught three classes class face to face and three online - redesigned two and half of them. I became the academic director for the centre at some point this year, and now am in the midst of scaling up our whole program to go fully online in late 2014. 

 

Sports

Got to see a rugby match live - the Melbourne Rebels in one of their 3 wins for the season. There are multiple kinds of rugby leagues and at least two different kinds of rugby. Then there's footy (Australian Rules Football), which basically looks like a bar brawl that spilled out onto a big grassy field. For a long time I couldn't tell the difference between rugby and footy, let alone different kinds of rugby. Now I sort of get it. One of the rugby things involved Australia vs THE LIONS - so there were A LOT of Irish and British traveling all over the country to see those matches http://www.lionsrugby.com/home.php

I've also been coaching part time with the Melbourne University Renegades Volleyball team, which is like a combination of a university club team and a women's USAV league. They're a fun bunch and they are happy to see me on the random Mondays I'm actually in town and not sick or with a broken foot or otherwise.

Visitors and Friends

Jean was my first visitor and we had a great time - she really saved the day since nearly everyone I had met in Melbourne fled the city for the holidays. I joined a group for expatriats - InterNations - and met Lucienne, who was the carrier of my TV cabinet, has been the instigator of the three hour bike tours, and is my current flatmate while she's between houses. I feel blessed to have found such a good friend early on. Plus, the folks at work and volleyball, Steve and the Ronins, have really made my first year here fabulous. And, thanks to the internet and cheap international phone rates I've been able to stay in touch with folks at home in the US - and I've gotten some spectacular care packages from Jay, Lindean, Lee and Kelly.

So here's to a great year in Australia, and a promise to keep on blogging in year #2.