Australia!!!

So as most of you know.....we are living in Australia for the next year or so. Kevin was given the opportunity to be the General Manager of Australia and New Zealand for Melaleuca. It has all happened so quickly- he was first approached about the position on January 3rd, by January 16th he was on a plane on his way to Australia for 2 and a half weeks. On February 18th our family flew out of IF to begin our new adventure. As exciting and as extreemly difficult as this decision has been for our family we feel like we were ment to come here. Not sure totally why yet but time will tell.

So we have been here for 2 weeks so far.....it has been a long 2 weeks! After one week I felt like I had been here a year already. It's getting better but part of that has been that we still haven't received our shippment of 500lbs that we were able to ship from home (which isn't all that much). So we have what we carried in our suit cases (all 9 of them + carry on bags) and what we have purchased here.... the basics of furniture and food. We have watched Dispicable Me at least once a day for 10 days (we don't have our DVD player yet and it's the only movie on a jump drive). I haven't blown my hair dry in 2 weeks....it's getting out of control.

Since I can't get my memory card with my pictures on it to work I thought I would just post about a few differences here and for those who don't know much about Australia (NOT THAT I DO)....give you a few details.

*We live in Surrey Hills which is a suburb of Melbourne; pronounced "Melbin". Melbournes population is around 4 million people. Only slightly larger than Idaho Falls :).

*Melbourne is in the South East corner of Australia and in the state of Victoria, Australia is made up of 6 states and 2 territories, the islands of Tasmania or Tazzy being one of the states.

*Australia is about as big as the connected 48 states. Melbourne is the second largest city. However, much of the middle of the country (The Bushland) is not very populated.

*We are 18 hours ahead here. So the easiest math for that is take your time in IF (would vary for other places) minus 6 hours......but we are a day ahead. So if it's your Friday at 3pm it is our Saturday at 9am. The kids think it is cool that we left on a Saturday and got here on a Monday....we completely skipped Sunday.

*As Kevin states it they drive on the "wrong side of the road" as opposed to the actual right side of the road. Oh- and of course they use the metric system. My weight on the scale looks way better in kilograms.

*Also...I'm sure in your head your are possibly picturing the late Steve Irwin or Crocidile Dunde (seriously people??). Anyway....yes the accent is the same or similar. But no on the khaki and the life style. Well....in Melbourne that is. This is big city professional and to me the shock has been more with the big city life than the fact that I am in a foreign country.

So here are a few other things that I found interesting about this place.....

*People have said the toilets flush the opposite way than they do in the US, so I tried to take notice. However, it must be a newer thing they have a "full flush" button and a "half flush" button and they both just go straight down not in any particular circular pattern :). To conserve water.

*Power is expensive here and so there are little switches above all the outlets- you only turn them on when they are in use. Also- I thought the oven was broken....but apparently there is a button to turn that on too.

*In a lot of stores you put money in to get a Trolly (shopping cart) and when you return cart it will return your $.

*Supposedly you don't tip here (I am still trying to figure out if that is Kevin being cheap or not).

*Their smallest bill is a $5- they do have $1 and $2 dollar coins (along with others) but no 1 cent. The smallest is 5 cent and tax is built into price.

A few of the words they use....that I understand what they mean.....there are lots that i don't get yet!

*Good onya- means good for you or well done.
*Fair go- 'Give it a fair go." Give it a chance or try.
*lolies - sweets or candy
*Bloke- means man or guy. (When Kevin first heard this word he thought it was mean term).
*Kindie- Kindergarten which is actually our pre-school.
*Uni- University. Our neighbor told us her grand daughter was 'At Uni in Road Island'
*Brekkie- Breakfast
*mate- friend
*Mackers- McDonalds (this is for the Gordon's they were trying to figure it out).
*Rubbish- garbage. It's printed on the bins every where- I just thought it was slang.
*Footy/Aerial Ping Pong- Australian rules football.
*Chokkie- Chocolate
*Tea- supper, meal....snack. The kids get a tea break at school (snack break).
*Fairy Floss- cotton candy

A few of the things I miss.....besides the OBVIOUS: family, friends, ward, profession and feeling like an active member of society.....! Ok- so here are a few trivial things....

*Ice Water......ice is rarely used here. In fact Mackers is the only place to give ice with drinks....and that's an American place. I asked the furniture guys if they wanted Ice Water and they said....um, no ice. I actually asked if it was because they didn't like it or was it just part of the culture. They stared at me and just said "Um...no ice."

*I miss going to the 'Market' and finding whatever we need. I haven't been able to find any baking soda yet. The only cereal the kids would pick out was fruit loops and it was $7.50 a box! On the other hand we are developing better eating habbits with out all of our extras.

*I miss a full size washer and dryer. They don't even use dryers here!!! They had to put mine on the cabinet and there is no air return vent so it just blows into the laundry room. Not good on a hot day. I admire them for this.....

*I miss jumping into the car and heading where ever I need to go. I haven't attempted driving yet because it's crazy here, so I can get on the train....which is kindof cool. However there seems to be no quick trips.

That is all the complaining I wish to do tonight. Over all this has been an eye-opening experience- which is exactly what I was expecting. I'm excited to do more exploring- so far we have been to a beautiful beach, downtown street market and I ventured out yesterday (Kevin is out of town) and took the kids on the train to the zoo.

I will really work on getting pictures on here....but the pictures don't scream "Whoa she lives in Australia" anyway :). Good night!