I Just Wanted to Tell You That.

As I was driving Ian to church youth group Wednesday night, we chatted comfortably in the car. He shared how a girl at school had actually taken notice of him the preceding week. It was either the beginning or end of a class, and he was standing by a desk talking to another boy. A girl he didn't really know made her way through the throng of kids, straight up to him, clearly eager to tell him something. While periodically shushing the other boy who was obliviously trying to continue his conversation with Ian, she started sharing. "I know some people with eyebrows, but you got it down - bushy and straight across your head." Ian said he just looked at her. He didn't know what to say. So, she concluded with, "I just wanted to tell you that," and walked away.

With his story finished, Ian couldn't hold it together any longer and just broke up, laughing so hard he was doubled over and speechless. Of course, I was laughing too, though I tried not to double up so I could keep my eyes, teary though they were, on the road. When we were capable of speech once more, we discussed this interaction a little further. Ian didn't think the girl meant anything unkind by her words. She is African-American, and we wondered if maybe unibrows weren't common among African-Americans so maybe she found his particularly intriguing? We also talked about how the genes of my bushy eyebrows and David's very light unibrow have united in a special way in him.

This is not the first time he has gotten comments on his unibrow. A year or 2 ago, school kids started noticing, and the comments started coming. He always found it mildly irritating whenever a kid would inform him of the arrangement of his eyebrows - or should I say eyebrow? - as if their new discovery would be news to him. In this case, though, Ian wasn't irritated at all.

Afterward I thought to myself, of all the ways he could have responded to this girl's bold pronouncement, his was definitely among the healthier options.

Engulfed by Fall

A favorite among Hannah's fall photos.

What can you do with a pig?

You can read with a pig.






You can play chess with a pig.










You can play outside with a pig. Even the dog likes
to play with the pigs -- after she got over her fear
of them.

Two Little Pigs

I just wanted to introduce the two latest additions to our family. Starburst (L) and Taffy (R) were adopted on Sept. 20, 2008. We think their birthday is July 20, 2008, give or take a week or two. We were told they are sisters, but I'm not so sure. Taffy is larger than Starburst, besides a lot hairier.

What do guinea pigs do? Well, mostly they sit still for very long periods of time. They also eat and poop. That's pretty much it. They will run and play in their cage sometimes, usually late at night or early in the morning. And they do make lots of wheeking noises whenever they hear the rustle of a plastic bag; they think they're going to be fed. They don't bite, and they don't generally pee when you hold them on your lap, two important don'ts.

A Giant Kiss

Since I'm here, I might as well post a photo of Elise in her Halloween costume. In true Elise style, she wanted to make a costume that required a little bit of engineering. She came up with the concept as well as the basic idea of how to construct it. David helped her carry out her ideas and added a pair of ropes under the costume to rest on her shoulders for more support. Her idea: make a circle of cardboard for the bottom, attach wires to make the shape, and then cover with aluminum foil (we used heavy duty). She also made the hat by herself. Hmm.... the costume looks a little battered here. The 3 boys behind her were a video game set up; one was the TV, one the wii, the other was a set of controllers, I think. This is not my favorite holiday, but I do love the outlet for kids' creativity!

Above All Political Powers

I just thought I would post a link to our pastor's pre-election sermon yesterday out of Daniel. He speaks to fears on both sides of the political divide and encourages us to trust in God's sovereignty and the prevailing of His Kingdom regardless of the outcome tomorrow.

Just click on the Nov. 2 sermon.

http://www.knoxannarbor.org/SermonsView.aspx

Hmmmmm.......

Well, to state the obvious, it has been almost 4 months since I last posted. Nevertheless, I just added a link to the blog of friends who are in Siberia for the time being, so I don't think I'm ready to ditch this blog despite many thoughts to the contrary.

I dont really have time today for a long update, but we are doing well, quite busy at the moment. I'm teaching the last of 4 sessions at our church's moms group Thursday a.m. Prepping for those teachings has taken a good bit of time -- studying, having conversations, thinking, writing, praying. It has been very very good, but I'll be ready for the changing of the guard next week. I'm going to reward myself by indulging in Brisingr at the end of this week. Ian can hardly wait! I can't indulge too heavily, though, because we're hosting 2 sets of houseguests next week. And the rest of life continues - pastor's class, Wednesday a.m. Bible study, teaching Sunday School to about 35 5th and 6th graders, and trying to keep the household running more or less smoothly. Finding new winter jackets for Ian, Hannah, and myself is a pressing concern right now, along with finding jeans that fit Ian. If these kids would just stop growing, my life would be a little simpler. But only a little. . . .

Taiwan II, hanging out with Warwick and family

We met Warwick at our church in Urbana, IL in the late 1980s. At the time, he was an international student working on his PhD in agriculture. Somehow, David had kept up with him enough through the years to know of his current Taiwanese residence. A little email legwork last winter (N. hemisphere) put us back in touch with each other so that Tuesday afternoon, May 13, we were able to take the bullet train from Taipei down to Tainan, traveling up to 300 km/hour, to meet up with Warwick and Vicky, who generously took a day out of their busy schedules to show us around their Taiwanese stomping grounds.

Warwick and Vicky lived in their home country of Australia and then Kenya before moving to Taiwan just 2 years ago where Warwick now works at the World Vegetable Center. I'd never heard of such an organization before so it was interesting to learn what they're about. As I understand it, the Center's main mission is to maintain the genetic pool of vegetables and create new hybrids, which are used all over the world but especially in developing nations. It is effectively an agricultural research institution.

Wednesday, we piled into their family car, along with Warwick, Vicky and Anthea (their oldest daughter couldn't skip school that day), and drove about 2 hours north to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, stopping by Sun Moon Lake on the way. The Village was a strange mix of displays on native Taiwanese culture and heart-stopping amusement park rides, all set on a large hill. At the top of the hill was the cultural section. We got to see reconstructions of huts some of the aboriginals would have lived in, and there was a museum with interesting displays on the aboriginal groups, of which there are so many I can't share specifics beyond the fact that Polynesian background figured in hugely. People in traditional dress wandered around the park. We saw a highly polished traditional dance show. As we wandered down the hill, we came across roller coasters and twirly rides and stalls selling pizza and fried chicken. All of us went on a flume ride, resulting in all of us getting soaking wet, which actually felt good on such a hot day. David and Ian braved a corkscrew-upside down roller coaster while the rest of us stood in the courtyard directly underneath the roller coaster, eating ice cream and craning our necks upward to watch its progress . (Somehow, I don't think that would be allowed in the USA.) Though the two parts of the park were very enjoyable, we never were able to wrap our minds around what conceptually tied them together. No worries; it was a lot of fun and very professionally done.

We also enjoyed getting to know Vicky and Anthea and commisserating with Warwick and Vicky about Australia. We sure shared some good laughs, as one is wont to do when hanging out with Aussies.

Deja Vu

Deja Vu #1 With the arrival of summer vacation this week, I have the sense that we're living the movie Groundhog Day. We keep having the same seasons over and over again: summer - fall - summer- fall - now summer again to be followed by yet another fall. Winter 09 is going to be a shock (a welcome one, I think) to our systems.

This 3rd summer vacation is sort of anti-climactic, really. I mean, the arrival of summer vacation is usually accompanied by a delicious feeling of indulgence as new freedoms and fun are embarked upon after months of hard work. However . . um. . . we haven't exactly been engaged in months of hard work recently. In fact, we've been engaged in some pretty fun adventures the last few months. More relaxation and fun just doesn't seem to be what we need right now. (note: David probably has a different take on this as he hit the ground running upon our return.) So, maybe it is alright that part of the cost of our sabbatical is that the kids are going to be spending some time this summer playing catch up; the girls are behind in math and all 3 kids are rusty with their musical instruments. Ian has even started private clarinet lessons in an effort to catch up with the other freshman band members for next fall.

DejaVu #2 Within a day or two of arriving home, we observed a wasp setting up a lovely little nest - right inside our mailbox. I don't know what it is about our mailboxes and creepy crawlies. We had a huntsman spider take up temporary residence in our Australian mailbox. Hmmmm..... I wonder which is more dangerous?

Deja Vu #3 Last February, David flew back to the USA for his work. On the long return flight from California to Australia, he told me how he was seated next to a morbidly obese man. This man was not just overweight or obese; he was of a size that we rarely see. It was an interesting situation for David; the guy was very nice and friendly. David chatted with him a bit. But the man just didn't fit in his airplane seat very well; his body was so large it came bulging under and over the arm rest, and there was no room for him to lower his tray table. He perched his meal trays on his belly.

As we boarded our long flight from Japan to Minneapolis, it was therefore with some interest that we spotted an incredibly obese man seated on THIS plane. We casually started checking row numbers, feeling pretty confident that he wouldn't be seated near us. What were the chances? Pretty quickly, our casual checks became wrought with a little anxiety as it became increasingly clear that yes, this man was seated in our row. . .seated right next to David, in fact. David was absolutely incredulous. What were the chances!! I managed not to laugh outloud and even volunteered to switch places with him, but he refused as he had a plan. Again, the man was very friendly and nice, but he just didn't fit in his seat. He bulged around the arm rest into David's seat and kept his arms crossed on his girth in an effort to fit in his space. Once we were allowed to walk around the cabin, David wasted no time finding a flight attendant and asking to be reseated, knowing from experience that it is basically impossible to sleep seated next to such a large person. Once asleep, their arms tend to slip off their bellies and into the laps of those on either side. The flight was pretty full, so when David was reseated, I stayed in my own seat which was 2 seats down from this over-sized gentleman. I was able to observe how he really did need 2 seats; David's move served not just his own comfort but that of this man's as well. There was maybe an inch or two between the man's body and the seat in front of him, so it was clear he could not use his own tray table for his meals. Indeed, he used David's. With David gone, he put the arm rest up and slept/sat with his shoulder and arm in David's seat; they extended about halfway across. I don't know what to think of this, but he didn't go to the restroom once during the 11+ hour flight (David thinks he wouldn't have fit in the bathroom) and had to be taken off the airplane in a wheelchair.

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there's nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9

Pepper's Glamour Shots

This is how Hannah kept busy on a recent rainy day. Pepper is such a good patient dog.

Taiwan, hanging out with Wan Ting (Anny)

I met Anny in January 2006 . We were paired together by ISI (International Students Inc.?). Anny had signed up for one-on-one Bible study with an American while I had signed up for one-on-one Bible study with an international student. For the following 1.5 years, we faithfully met Tuesday mornings for Bible Study and espresso drinks at various coffee shops in Ann Arbor. Slowly, our friendship expanded beyond the confines of coffee shops. She joined us for some family meals, even some holiday meals, and eventually became a regular on the Blaauwmobile's circuit to Knox church Sunday mornings. For our part, we got to go to the local Taiwanese club's Chinese New Year celebration, eat some of her awesome Asian cooking, and received nice gifts from her family in Taiwan. Anny moved to TX for work fall 07, so we were thrilled to be able to coordinate our travels to Asia with her travels to Taiwan this spring; we spent 5 interesting days in Taiwan.

Our time in Taiwan was marked by trains. That was our main mode of transportation. Fortunately, enough Taiwanese spoke enough English that David could actually obtain tickets without too much confusion.

Our hotel was in Taipei, not too far (50 minutes by train) from Anny's hometown of Tao Yuan, which was our first tourist stop. The main attraction: Anny's parents' home, which was quite spacious in a vertical fashion, with 3 floors and a kind of courtyard on the top with a small fish pond and a large collection of orchid plants. Anny's mother has a prolific hobby of raising orchids. After a large snack, we headed off (by car) to a park on the site of one of Chiang Kai Shek's summer homes. What was interesting about this park was that it held an immense collection of Chiang Kai Shek statues. With the advent of democracy in Taiwan, the statues were apparently removed from public places, like school buildings, to this park. Lunch was in a charming town called Daxi. I believe Daxi is known for its tofu, and I ate the best-tasting tofu I've ever had while there. We tasted samples from a couple street food stalls as well; the candied sweet potatoes were popular.

The next day, David spent the day at the National University of Taiwan while the kids and I went to the National Palace Museum in Taipei with Anny and Stefan. The museum was amazing. It has an incredibly large collection of Asian artifacts; we were told that Chiang Kai Shek took most of the Chinese treasures with him to Taiwan when he fled the mainland in 1949. In fact, the museum only has room to display 3% of their collection at one time; the rest is stored in caves in the mountains somewhere. The kids found the museum very interesting, though I think Ian was more interested in figuring out Chinese characters than seeing the items on display. Highlights: some extremely intricate carvings, a ship with 7? people carved on an olive pit and balls of ivory carved within balls of ivory. Our day concluded with a stop at The Modern Toilet, a funky restaurant that specializes in ice cream treats served in. . .well. . .toilet bowls. Miniature ones at least.

Our time in Taipei ended Tuesday morning with a trip to the paper museum where we got to make paper. Even more fascinating, we stopped by the paper store next door and watched some women making incredible pictures out of torn bits of tissue paper. Tuesday afternoon, we took the bullet train down south to Tainan to catch up with a friend we hadn't seen since grad school days, early 1990s. . .

More Singapore

Singapore Day 2: Walking and Sweating

Irene kindly picked us up at the hotel early in the morning and chauffeured us around for the day. We did a lot of walking outside in hot muggy weather. The zoo was the first stop. We were reminded that we were not in a western country when en route, a sizable wild monkey ran across the road in front of the car. Monkey roadkill would have been a novel sight - but was not to be this day. Highlights of the zoo were the white tigers and the orangutans. If I remember correctly, the white tigers, not albino, are a species that is extinct in the wild now. The orangutans are very popular with the Singaporeans; the zoo's mascot used to be an orangutan. There was a collection of about 5 orangutans sitting on the lower branches of a tree out of the enclosure for photo ops while we were there - for a fee, of course. They were happily munching on fruit.

A local hawker center was our next stop. A hawker center is a large open air area with lots and lots of food stalls. Irene helped us order, and we enjoyed what I still remember as the best meal I ate during all our time in Asia! My favorite was a noodle dish with dumplings.

Chinatown was next. There was some great shopping at the market there, and the kids enjoyed some bubble tea. We briefly visited a Hindu temple. At our request, Irene took us into a low income apartment building so we could see what that was like. It looked like it was mainly populated by the elderly. Some of the apartment doors were open so we could peek in and see the rooms, which were quite small. Things generally seemed neat, though quite old and a bit run down.

The last stop of the day was at a stall selling . . . durian. Durian is a fruit, prickly and hard on the outside but oh so very mushy on the inside. Since it is quintessential Singaporean fare, we couldn't leave the country without trying it. (Well, actually we could have. . .) The taste was odd, not fresh and fruity but not too bad, actually. The biggest obstacle for me was the texture. The kids weren't thrilled; I think the girls never even tasted it. It didn't help that we knew beforehand that durian is banned on subways and in hotels due to its strong smell, which resembles rotten fish.

Irene told us some interesting things about Singapore while driving us around. For a while, Singapore was an undeveloped city in the country of Malaysia. The government, however, becoming increasingly concerned about Singapore's high Chinese population, expulsed the island city in 1963. This was a problem for the Singaporeans since they didn't have the resources for viability as an independent nation. Forced to turn to the resources of other nations, they figured out how to attract foreign investors, a practice which made them one of the most modern and industrialized countries in Asia today - and still an Asian financial hub, I believe.

For better or worse, the Singaporean government seems to have a strong say in citizens personal finances. There is a mandatory savings program; I think Irene said that 20% of one's salary is automatically put into a personal fund used mainly for retirement. And there are income level parameters, high and low, on the sorts of housing one is allowed to buy.

Yes, Singapore seemed generally clean and safe, but it didn't strike me as unusually so. Or maybe I just didn't pay attention. It has all the trappings and bustle of a big busy city and an interesting mixture of old and modern architecture. I did notice some large beautiful trees lining some streets, rain trees I think, and beautiful garden areas.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

I haven't posted for weeks. . . I wonder if anyone is still reading? Once we got to China, I couldn't get to my blog - or any other blogspot blogs for that matter. I think they're blocked by the Chinese government? Then, I took a week at home to get re-acclimated.

Yes, 29 flights in 6 months, and we're right back where we started!! We arrived home Sunday, May 25, around 6 pm. Upon arrival, I was feeling pretty carpy after 3 flights in a row, 23 hours straight of travelling (only about 18 of those were in the air) - and this on the heels of 2 flights and 1 taxi ride from Lijiang, China to Hong Kong the preceding day. A habit of insomnia on planes didn't help either. However, I wasn't feeling carpy enough to entirely miss the surreality of being back in a place that seemed like it belonged in a different life.

First impressions of being back in Ann Arbor, Michigan:
1. It is SO green and lush here! Vegetation is just sprouting everywhere out of control (especially the dandelions in our yard) - and the trees are tall. We basically live in a forest.
2. Awaking to the sound of songbirds Monday morning was so much more pleasant than waking to the squawking of cockatoos and crowing of wattle birds.
3. After picking up Peppa (Pepper's new more Aussie name) on Monday, I was struck by how she wags her tail nonstop. She must have some strong tail muscles. I'd forgotten about this.
4. We'd also forgotten about the bad Michigan roads. Lots of potholes and cracks.

I am feeling more human this week. Last week, I was tired and woozy off and on and at odd times. I think I'm done with crashing in the afternoons now.

We got back just in time for some members of our family to do more travelling. David has been to California and back already. Hannah went on her 3 day 6th grade trip to N. Michigan last week. They went out on Lake Michigan and collected and analyzed water samples, among other activities. Saturday, David is heading back to California for 7 days, and Monday, Ian is going on his 8th grade trip to Washington DC for 4 days. So, next week will be girls' week in our home! :-) (I think there may be a lot of chocolate.)

Personally, I'm planning on staying home as much as possible the next few months. Yes, this is home in a way Adelaide never was and never could be with such a short tenure. But there are bits of Adelaide that are stuck to me, fond memories that I relish. Toward preserving and sharing those memories, I will continue blogging here until everything I want to share is up. So, stay tuned, if you wish. . .

Faces of Adelaide

Here are some of the good people of Adelaide whom we will miss. Most of them we met through church, others through schools. Of all the things we'll miss about Australia, I think these new friends rank right on top. To generalize, we found Australians easy going, friendly, down-to-earth, nonpretentious, and possessing great senses of humor. Their ability to laugh at themselves and their relative (to some bits of Ann Arbor culture, that is) noncompetitive natures were truly refreshing traits!

We hosted a BBQ Sunday, May 4 to say good bye to our new Aussie friends. Yes, this get-together was just 48 hours before the shipping co. showed up on our doorstep ready to pick up our boxed belongings, but what can we say other than we're going native. No worries, mate. We did get everything done, though it was a very busy few days.

Logistics

Though I still have much on Australia to put down here, we actually left Australia 2 days ago and are currently in Singapore. As we travel, blogs will be spotty as internet will be spotty, and I'm afraid I may intersperse Australian entries with other topics.

Singapore is. . . tropical! Green, hot, and humid! We went to a very interesting Asian Civilisations Museum yesterday. There are so many different people groups around here that I couldn't keep track. Indonesia, Malaysia, China, and India all seem to have a presence in the cultural melee. Not to mention the past British influence. While David gave a talk at the National University of Singapore yesterday afternoon, the kids and I hung out in the hotel room, braved the bustling streets here to forage for food, and played in the swimming pool. David returned from the University with a friend we knew from church in Ann Arbor. She was a grad student back then and is now a professor at NUS. Irene drove us around Singapore and took us out for real Singaporean food for dinner. It was quite good! Then, we all went on the night safari. Today, we're meeting her again and going back to the zoo in the daylight. We might also stop by Chinatown.

"Strine" Vocabulary Quiz Answers

1. arvo - afternoon

2. busking - street performing

3. fringe - bangs (in hairstyle)

4. lift - elevator

5. texta - felt marker

6. trolley - cart of any sort, including shopping cart

7. recess - snack; I got a note for a field trip Elise was going on saying she needed to bring a water bottle, a hat, and a recess. Fortunately, I knew what a recess was at that point.

8.tick - check mark

9. shout - pay for someone else when eating, having coffee, etc. with a friend; typicallly expressed as, "I'll shout for ya," or "It's my shout."

10. Salvos - The Salvation Army (Australians laughingly acknowledge that "The Salvation Army" is just too long to say.)

11. pacer - mechanical pencil

12. flat white - we think it is an espresso with milk, not much different from a latte.

13. long black - watered down espresso

14. bathers - swimsuits

15. thongs - flipflops footwear. Actually, I used the word thongs as a child but it is new to my kids.

16. mate - friend, buddy.

17. togs - another word for swimwear

18. concession - when paying an entrance fee, this is a non-full price adult, typically a senior or a student.

19. gap - insurance co-payment

20. docket - receipt

21. fairy floss - cotton candy

22. jumper - pullover sweater

23. chook - chicken. Not sure if this applies to a chicken in the grocery store to be eaten, but it is at least a live chicken running around one's backyard, which is not an unheard of thing here.

24. minis - toddlers and preschoolers. (This is a personal favorite.)

25. barbie - the barbecue on which meat is barbecued

So, you think you speak English. . .

Well, you need to specify which English it is that you speak. Just because we all speak English doesn't mean that we all speak the same language!! It was somewhat disconcerting upon arrival in this English speaking country to realize that we couldn't always understand what people were saying to us. Language has been one of our most pervasive cross-cultural experiences here.

Let's start with the letter "r." At first notice, Australians seem to be almost disdainful of this letter as they cast off its pronunciation with shocking abandon. Melbourne is pronounced "Melbun" and Cairns "Cans." In English class, Ian was taught this list of words as a list of homophones, pronounced identically but spelled differently: poor, pour, pore, paw. They are all pronounced without a final "r." However, after further consideration, I have concluded that Australians must not have anything too great against poor "r" because there are other instances where they actually add it to their pronunciation. My informal observation is that this occurs at the end of a word when the last syllable is unstressed and ends in a schwa-ish vowel. Thus, Hannah is often "Hanner," to her great distress, and idea is "ideer."

Besides being a little unclear on what to do with the letter "r," Australians are also not sure what to do with some of their longer words. They have a habit of shortening words and sticking an -o on the end. Thus garbage is "garbo." A musician is a "muso." You take a pesky skin rash to the "dermo." Etcetero, etcetero. The goal cannot be verbal efficiency. Anyone who takes the time to pronounce "al-u-min-i-um" instead of aluminum or "show-en" for shown is not seriously looking for time saving measures.

"Tea" deserves a paragraph of its own. True to its British traditions - and I must add that Adelaide prides itself on being the most British of the Australian cities, being founded by British freemen rather than criminals - "tea" is a serious matter here. First, there is tea, the hot drink, prevalent in most homes here. Then, there is tea, the event, where tea the hot drink is drunk accompanied by nice biscuits, sometimes by scones and clotted cream. Yum! This tea is often social in nature and usually falls into 2 categories: morning tea or afternoon tea. Then, there is tea, the evening meal, synonymous for supper or dinner in American English. We were taught early on that an invitation to tea was an invitation to supper (in American) while an invitation to supper was an invitation to evening tea and biscuits. I never before knew a small 3 letter word could be so complex!

Then, there are those words that are just plain different from our American vocabulary. Here's a short list for you to figure out for fun. Yes, they are all G rated. We'll post the definitions in a week, I hope. .
1. arvo
2. busking
3. fringe
4. lift
5. texta
6. trolley
7. recess
8.tick
9. shout
10. Salvos
11. pacer
12. flat white
13. long black
14. bathers
15. thongs
16. mate
17. togs
18. concession
19. gap
20. docket
21. fairy floss
22. jumper
23. chook
24. minis
25. barbie

Great Barrier Reef

The weather this day was a bit dodgy with clouds, high winds, and even a spattering of rain. Though of no concern to the marine life living amongst the coral, this was of great concern to the human life operating the tour; an hour and a half boat ride is required to get out to the reef, a ride which would be rather rough and rocky this day due to the winds. But, we are thankful for this weather because through it we discovered something Australians are not laid back about - besides chip portions, footy, and cricket, that is - seasick tourists stuck on a boat for an hour and a half! Once on board, we found the staff liberally handing out free ginger tablets to calm tourist tummies. Medicated anti-nausea pills could also be bought for a minimal charge. Of course, the expectation of seasickness made some of us feel more queasy than the rocking motion of a high-speed catamaran ever could. To be on the safe side, though, we all took medicated pills, an effort which rather promoted nausea for Elise who has trouble swallowing pills. Happily, there was no hint of tummy problems once the boat started moving, and most of us skipped medication on the ride back and were absolutely fine.

Our destination was a very large pontoon moored next to a portion of the Outer Reef. Once there, we all donned spiderman suits, aka very becoming (ha ha!) bright blue skin tight lycra suits, to protect us against jellyfish stings. This was the tail end of jellyfish season; their stings are potentially fatal. We just didn't want to mess with that risk.

The snorkelling was great fun. The water was warmer than the air. We paired up adults and kids so we could keep track of each other, though we still managed to lose Elise at one point when she decided to strike out on her own. We went out for 30 - 40 minutes at a time and then came in for a break. Though the coral was not as colorful as I had expected, the fish certainly were. Some of their vivid hues even rivaled our lycra suits! The photos really don't do justice - to the fish or the suits. Unfortunately, I don't know most of the species we saw. Kids inform me that we did see some trumpet fish, angel fish, clown fish, and parrot fish. We found a giant clam. David saw an interesting fish interaction that started as a large fish was being dogged by a very small fish. Eventually, the large fish slowly opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth. To David's surprise, the small fish then eagerly swam into this toothy cavern and started picking its way around those sharp teeth. It was eating bits of debris found there. David tried but couldn't get a photo of this underwater dental hygiene moment. Most of the kids enjoyed a semi-submersible boat ride as well. This was a smaller boat docked at the pontoon with glass walls so that marine life could be seen without snorkelling.

Cairns and Daintree area

Continuing. . . The sky rail was a nice experience. The views were really spectacular, I must say. At the top, we raced through the village of Kuranda to see the butterfly sanctuary for about 20 minutes before heading off on our Rainforestation tour. The Rainforestation was fairly tourist-y but still interesting, particularly the army duck (amphibious vehicle from WWII) ride. We had an excellent tour guide which made our day. Not only was he very funny, but he was extremely knowledgeable. We learned that Daintree is a tropical rainforest, getting around 3 metres of rain per year. That's close to 10 feet! Also, many medical drugs we use are derived in part from rainforest plants. We learned about epiphytes and termites and saw some pretty nasty rainforest plants with barbs and hooks - useful for a vine trying to climb up a tree but not so pleasant for someone walking through the brush. We also learned about how the aboriginals ate plants that we would consider poisonous, even containing cyanide. Our guide seemed to think they ate what they could and developed immunity over time. I also saw the largest spider I've ever seen in the wild right there on the army duck dock. It was a golden orb weaver with a body and head about 6 inches long. I don't even want to venture a guess as to dimensions including leg span. . . She was enormous!!!! I took a photo but kept a healthy distance, even though I know these spiders are not aggressive or deadly. Still. . . .

That was Wednesday. Thursday, we went on a snorkelling tour of the Great Barrier Reef, but I'll wait until we get the photos back for that entry. I'm not even sure how the photos came out; we used throw away underwater cameras. An experiment.

Friday, we drove up to the Daintree Rainforest Discovery Centre. It was a really beautiful drive and we got to take a small ferry across the Daintree River. I guess they haven't gotten around to building a bridge yet? I think we heard that this road to Cape Tribulation was only 50 years old. The Centre itself was very informative and interesting. They have boardwalks and stairways set up to allow you to see all levels of the rainforest. We learned about the diversity of plant and animal species in this rainforest, cassowaries, and more.

On the way back to Cairns, we stopped at Mossman Gorge, which is also in the Daintree National Park. It was pretty crowded and for good reason - it has a great swimming hole and a beautiful hiking circuit. Four members of our family braved the icy cold waters while the one sensible member stood on the bank and took photos. We could only hike a short way on the circuit since it was starting to get dark by the time everybody was out of the water and dried off. The only disappointment of the day was that we didn't get to see a real-life cassowary in the wild. However, we did get to see brush turkeys at the gorge. That was a consolation. (Uh, yeah.)

I just have to add that sugarcane seems to be the main crop in the area. We also saw a field of banana trees and a pasture of brahman-looking cows.

We're in Cairns!

Yesterday, we flew from Adelaide to Cairns, Australia. Our flight took us over The Outback, of which I'm very glad as that is as close as we're going to get to that part of the country. It was interesting to watch the landscape under us empty out and turn brown - and then red. A large white smooth feature was puzzling until I asked the woman next to me what it was. She said it was Lake Eyre, a very large salt lake, one of the largest in the world, she thought. She flies this route regularly and hasn't seen water in it for 8 years. Thus, Lake Eyre is now a large salt flat.

Cairns is definitely of a different climate than Adelaide. The mountains/hills around us really remind us of the karsts in Thailand, though perhaps with less rock and more vegetation. Vegetation. . . it is green and lush here! Obviously, Cairns gets more rain than Adelaide. It is about 10 degrees warmer here than in Adelaide, highs in the low 80s this week, and we can feel that the air is also more humid.

Today, we're planning on taking the sky rail up to Kuranda and then jumping on a tour of the Rainforestation, a tourist attraction that seems to have displays on Aboriginal culture as well as native wildlife - flora and fauna. We should be back at the hotel around 5 pm. The friends we visited in Sydney happen to be vacationing in the area as well, so we may meet up with them this evening!!

We definitely want to see the Great Barrier Reef while we're here, but there is an interesting problem with that undertaking this week. The winds are quite high, 25-30 knots, making for swells in the ocean of up to 2 metres. This is not an issue for the snorkelling part of such a venture; rather, the issue is the boat ride out to the reef, which can take a good hour/hour and a half. There is concern over the possibility of seasickness on the boats. If winds have not died down by Friday, we may just go anyway. I don't know when we'll get another opportunity to see the Great Barrier Reef.

Hopefully, I'll be putting up photos soon. .

A "No Worries" Day

"No worries," is the Australian national motto. No, not officially; it's just a phrase we hear a lot, often used in the same way Americans might say, "No problem." There is a sort of laid back, don't sweat the details, things will work out attitude here that seems to be embodied in, "No worries." As part of our cultural education, we unintentionally lived out this phrase last Wednesday. It was actually quite a helpful experience; we may have gained a deeper understanding of the Australian mindset.

Last Wednesday, David and I had a "teacher interview" with Elise's teacher at 3:30 pm. Hannah's interview was the next day at 3:45 pm. These appointments were clearly marked on my wall calendar. I even remember rolling my eyes when the girls brought home the slips of paper detailing the time slots we'd received from the school. In light of the note that had said the school would do its best to schedule sibling interviews back-to-back, the sequential times on different days seemed a bit ironic - but oh, so Australian.

About 3:15, I decided to double check details before heading out the door. All I could find in the Hannah/Elise slot on my desk was a reminder from Hannah's teacher that said that her interview was at 3:45 pm. . . Wednesday. I had written myself a note on the bottom that Elise's interview was at 3:30 pm. . . Tuesday. I had made a mistake. I had written down the wrong days on my calendar! Worse, this mistake, unnoticed until now, had caused us to be a no-show for Elise's teacher yesterday. Now, I have NEVER missed a parent/teacher conference in the 9 years I've had kids in school; in fact, I take pride in my ability to handle the schedules of our 5 member household. Pride duly subdued at this point, however, I pondered how to apologize to Elise's teacher and whether we should show up at the school at 3:30 per the girls' expectations or just arrive at 3:45 for Hannah's interview.

Then, the phone rang. It was Hannah; did I realize her interview was this afternoon at 3:45? Yes, I did. I asked her to check with Elise to see if by some miraculous chance her teacher could still squeeze in an interview with us at 3:30. A few seconds later, Elise was on the phone telling me that yes, our interview with her teacher was at 3:30. After a few more questions, I realized that Elise's interview had been scheduled for Wednesday, not Tuesday, after all; the interviews HAD been scheduled back to back all along! I'm still quite sure our original notes from the school had them on different days, but my mistake worked out beautifully in the end, even adding efficiency to our schedule. What can I say but. . . no worries!

To end this day, David went to the video store to return a DVD. It was 2 days late. Last time we returned a video, we got slapped with an unexpected huge late fee weeks after the fact. We're still not sure if that video was late or not. So, with all this in mind, we wanted to square away our account immediately with the clear understanding that this particular DVD was only 2 days late. When he returned home, I asked David about the late fee. "Oh, there was no fee. They said it wasn't late." I don't get it. It was rented on a Monday and due the next Monday. This was definitely the next Wednesday. But hey - no worries! Everything worked out just fine this day. We're living in Australia!

Young Music Tastes

Elise is buying herself an ipod. She found one on the web and has ordered it, with the help of her father. It should arrive before the school term break next week. Very curious as to what a 9 year old would want to listen to, I asked her as much. Her cheerful answer, "Oh, Weird Al, The Barenaked Ladies (they're not what they sound like. . . ), The Beatles, The Soweto Gospel Choir, The Nutcracker." I guess her taste in music at this tender age is just a tad eclectic. I can't imagine why.

Oh, and by the way, she chose the green border for this blog's template.

Sydney Harbour Bridge Climbers

David just couldn't pass up an opportunity to climb something as interesting as the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Neither could his offspring. Unfortunately, Elise was too young for this activity and had to content herself with walking across the bridge and back (.5 km. 1 way). I think the partaking of a chocolate pastry at a quaint French cafe in The Rocks afterward did much to further her contentment.

David, Ian, and Hannah had a great time on the bridgeclimb! They enjoyed some great views from the top and learning a little about its construction; "rivet" is now in Hannah's vocabulary. Too bad Grandpa wasn't there to give bridge design insights. Their climbing route took them up an inner arch, across to the other side on the very tippy top, and down an inner arch on the opposite side. It sounds challenging and scary, but really, it was just going up and down a lot of stairs, all with railings. Everybody was clipped to the railings for extra safety.

Climbers are not allowed to bring anything with them. Pockets must be completely empty; glasses can't be worn loose but must have a band that goes around the head. If anything would drop from the bridge and hit a car below, causing an accident or even a death, the bridgeclimb company would be in some very hot water or even closed down.

We've heard that the Sydney bridgeclimb is not unique; apparently, there are bridgeclimbs in other Australian cities, like Brisbane.

Sydney, here we come!

Last week, we took a long weekend away to Sydney.

First impressions: Sydney is green, literally green, compared to Adelaide. It also seems to be clean and modern, though it does have some historical neighborhoods too, such as The Rocks.

Highlights:
(1) The Aquarium was a lot of fun! We got to walk under a tank filled with giant marine life, such as sharks, rays, and sea turtles. The effect was like being in the midst of the water with the sea animals swimming above and beside us. We also got to see a couple duck-billed platypus. They were active little critters.

(2) Seeing Bob, Gretchen, Maddie, and Sophie from Ann Arbor was definitely a highlight, especially for Elise who stayed in their place the whole time we were there. David and I didn't know Bob and Gretchen that well and were pleased to discover them to be really comfortable people to hang out with. Maybe they were just on their best behavior for us. (We were trying to behave ourselves as well. . . .) We really appreciated their putting up Elise for 3 nights and feeding us all at least once. Their apartment is lovely, situated close to the beach and very nicely furnished. By the way, we have nothing on them in terms of spider guests. They have at least 3 huge spiders in webs living in the foliage by their front walkway. Two look like female golden orb weavers, even though one is named Herman; the 3rd is just plain scary looking.

(3)Exploring the Sydney Harbour Bridge was fun, but that is my next entry.

(4)We took a tour of the Opera House which was also fascinating. There is a long story behind its construction, involving Jorn Utzon, a Danish architect who won the design competition, and gross underestimations of time and money. Originally expected to take 6 years and $7 million, construction ended up taking 16 years and $102 million. It was completely paid off 18 months after opening, thanks to lottery tickets.

(5)An afternoon at Manly Beach was relaxing and fun. We took the ferry over and back, taking in beautiful views of the harbor both ways. Yet another Ann Arbor family on sabbatical in Australia showed up. It was really nice to have a small A2 neighborhood reunion! We went for a little hike along the beach, and the adults eventually headed up into the cliffs overlooking the ocean while the kids continued to hang out on the beach, swimming and playing.

Ian is 14!

Wow. How did that happen? He has informed us he'll be able to drive in 2 more years.

For his birthday dinner, Ian chose a favorite dish, cheese souffle. I mention that only because I'm kind of proud of how well it turned out this time, the best one yet - and actually enough to feed us all after doubling the recipe. For dessert, Elise and I made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing from scratch. Elise wasn't sure the cake was chocolaty enough and so decorated it with leftover chocolate Easter eggs just for good measure.

One family birthday tradition we have is that every member of the family gives a little speech in honor of the birthday person, remembering high points of the past year, noting personal growth, and just affirming things we like about him/her. The speeches are also a good vehicle for taking note of God's faithfulness over time. Our speeches to Ian hit upon several characteristics that make him special to us: (1) He does not complain much. (2) He has fairly broad interests: math, puzzles of any sort (math, word, 3-D, etc.), languages (he is pretty jazzed by his Japanese class here), insects, need I mention video/computer games? (3) He is not afraid of working hard; he has been putting in many extra hours outside of school to keep up with his Ann Arbor math class. (4) He is a good sport, a fun person to play games with. (5) In fact, he can make almost anything into a game. (6) He has a wonderfully goofy sense of humor.

Here's Elise's speech to him, a poem she wrote. I got permission from both Ian and Elise to share here, though I had to change one line per Ian's instructions - and then edit out 2 lines per Elise's instructions.

IAN
You are a brother of a sort I find hard to find.
Happily, God made no extras of your kind.
Sadly, you have a bit of memory loss,
Don't step on my toes! Don't ruin my cross!
But everyone makes mistakes.
Even I make some awful cakes.
But not everything you do is bad.
There are quite some experiences you've had.
You are 14 now,
You're long past Barnie and a purple cow.
You're the best at maths I've ever seen.
You make up something fun when it's time to clean.
The games you make are amazing too.
The powerful shots all come from you?
Soon, you'll be driving fast.
You might even end up in a cast.
You're 14 now. It's time to start
Helping Mom push her heavy cart.
Help me with my homework too!
I might give a treat to you.
You are a brother, you're special too,
And this is why I love you.

Why green? Ian's eyes are green! (And his shirt in the photos was green.)

Not to gloss over Easter

He is risen!

If you see my window wipers going, I'm turning.

Well, this just about sums up our initial experience driving here. It is one thing to drive on the left side of the road when you're accustomed to the right. It is still another to drive on the left side of the road in a car with the location of all the controls reverse to what you're used to. Whenever we would make a turn, we would invariably bump the windshield wiper stick rather than the turn signal. Elise apparently felt the need to make this sign and tape it in our back window, a signal to other drivers that we were clueless. We've managed to avoid any traffic accidents however, though once, David did find himself at a stoplight puzzling over why there was a car facing him directly across the intersection with the driver frantically waving her arms. Fortunately, there was not much traffic around at the time and he was able to scoot to the other side of the road. It was I, however, who ran into a left hand curb while parking and managed to put some holes in a tyre.

One interesting side effect of driving on the opposite side of the road was that for a time, David and I found ourselves switching the concepts of "left" and "right" and still completely understanding each other. If I was driving and David told me to take a right turn, I knew that he meant to take a left turn. If I told him the salt shaker was on the right of the stove, he knew I meant left. I think we've got it all sorted out now, more or less.

To augment the thrill of driving here, we also had to figure out how to read street signs in Adelaide. We've been told many times over how easy it is to navigate Adelaide; the city was planned and laid out with this ease in mind, after all. However, for all that navigational planning, somehow the concept of placing street signs at major intersections got lost. True, there is often a street sign about 100 m. before a major intersection, but it bears not only the upcoming cross street name but also the names of the neighborhoods this cross street can take you to either direction. Fresh off the plane from N. America, we didn't recognize these signs as street signs since there was so much verbage on them, they were larger than any street signs we'd ever seen, and they were not at the intersections. To lend clarity, sometimes there are street signs at an intersection - indicating streets one will encounter further down that road. It took us about 2 weeks to figure all this out; driving around Adelaide got a whole lot easier once we did.

Unexpected Houseguests

We've had a couple unexpected guests since we moved in, most notably the arachnid sort. We hadn't been here long when Hannah found a redback spider in our garage. Of course, this discovery generated much excitement for the entire family as redbacks are said to be the second most dangerous spider species in the country. After much discussion, photo-taking, and careful peering at her (we knew the spider was of the feminine sort because females have the characteristic red markings), we decided that the logical thing to do with our dangerous find was to capture her alive so we could anesthetize her and bring her back to the USA encased in glass, kind of like a spider paper weight. We did succeed in capturing her, but she died before anesthetization could take place. (Of course, she would die since we left her in captivity while we went to New Zealand for 2 weeks.) Incidentally, redbacks are related to black widow spiders.

A few weeks later, while fetching our mail, I discovered a huntsman spider - inside our mailbox! For about 3 days, he made our mailbox his abode, until the temperatures soared one day, the tin box likely got a little too toasty, and he moved on. To this day, I still carefully inspect the mailbox before I retrieve the mail. (note: I don't actually know if the huntsman was a he or a she, but for the sake of variety, I'll say he. Besides, huntsman does sound masculine.)

The third spider wasn't actually a houseguest. We almost ran into her, quite literally, while hiking in Morialta Reserve just east of Adelaide. After some web searching, no pun intended, I determined she was a golden orb weaver, female. She was a large beautiful specimen, almost as long as my hand.

photo credits: Hannah took photos of the hunstman and redback.

God and Beer

(My best unnamed critic here informed me that I took the blog title a little too seriously with my last post. It was a bit too meandering. Therefore, I do endeavor to keep this post to a reasonable length.)

Our church sponsored this event last week as an outreach tool. This is one thing we like about our Adelaide church, Holy Trinity Anglican; it is serious about the spread of the gospel, not just in word but in deed as well. David attended the event and had a nice time. He got to try 5 different kinds of Cooper beer and chatted with men from our small group as well as a couple of workmates one had brought with him. We liked the event because it was upfront about its spiritual content yet also socially palatable to non-believers. David's co-worker wanted to go, but unfortunately had a prior commitment. The brewer himself shared about why he loves God and beer - or was it beer and God? He is a committed Christian brewer of beer. That's not an oxymoron - cultural norms need to be taken into consideration here.

In an odd way, it is refreshing to be in a more post-Christian culture. Christians here seem to be free of some of the "Christian culture" baggage we've sensed in the USA. There doesn't seem to be as much worry about sending inadvertent messages about Christianity here, likely because (1) the Christian culture is not in the spotlight as much as in the US and (2) it is overshadowed by a huge and clearly secular culture. Thus, the church is not as worried about making a statement about the value of drinking beer when it combines a Christian talk with a beer tasting event. Instead, the tack is that people drink beer at the pubs. That's what they do. So, lets come alongside them, responsibly enjoying the good food and drink God has given us, and bring the good news to those who need it.

However, "the Christian brewer" is a concept I need to chew on in light of the negative impact beer can have on people's lives regardless of which society they live in. I do find a tension here that brings up many questions, but I'll save them for another blog.

Busy Weekends

Well, one really needs to define busy. By our new Aussie-rules lifestyle, the last 2 weekends have been busy, filled with social get-togethers, beach excursions, and a short road trip. Yes, yes, busy with fun stuff! I'm not going to get any sympathy from those of you back in the USA, I know.

Let me start with March 1-2 since I have managed to post a little slideshow from that weekend, thanks to the help of Bob and my dear (well, usually. . . ) husband David. Saturday, I actually cleaned the house! That doesn't happen too terribly often, so it was somewhat of an accomplishment. After a trip to the grocery store, I was ready to help David with the cooking. The menu: chicken curry, aloo beans, and roti as we had learned to make them at an Indian cooking class last summer. Steve, Helena, and their 2 boys arrived in good time, bringing some really scrumptious homemade desserts and a bottle of shiraz. (You didn't really think I was cleaning just for fun, did you?) The adults had a very pleasant evening eating, chatting, and playing De Grote Dalmuti. The kids supplemented those activities with badminton, hide and seek, and video games; they did join in the Dalmuti games and sometimes even beat us adults. After they left, Elise quickly whipped up some rice bubbles (krispies) treats for our next get-together. Sunday morning was church, as usual. We then followed home friends from church with quadruplets Elise's age for a BBQ and an outing to Grange beach, just 5 blocks walk from their home. At the beach, the girls got into collecting these odd, clear, small, jelly-like balls, creating a good-sized pile. You can sort of see this in the slideshow. A passing man told us they were little jellyfish. I'm a bit skeptical as I didn't see a single tentacle, but I'm certainly no marine life expert. Whatever they were, the girls were thrilled with them and carried the whole pile back to the house carefully wrapped in a towel. I'm not sure if any of them ended up going home with us. I haven't seen any stray jelly balls in our house recently.



Saturday, March 8, we went on a little road trip down to Victor Harbor, about 110 km. south of us. After a late start, we enjoyed a few hours on a beach on Horseshoe Bay. That's Horseshoe Bay in the photo above. David had bought 2 boogie boards that morning, and the kids had fun playing around on them. Well, I'll admit that David and I had fun playing on them too. We then found a funky beachfront restaurant for pizzas and Indian food. After dinner, we headed over to the jetty and walked the 800m. to Granite Island, home to a colony of Blue Penguins. When the sun had set, we went on a penguin tour. It was not the best time of year to see penguins. In fact, it was just about the worst possible time to see penguins. Many in this colony were still moulting, meaning they were not going out to sea until their waterproof feathers had completely grown back. Plus, their chicks were grown up so numbers were not as high as they could have been. Still, we saw about 5 penguins, a few returning to their burrows after a day of fishing, and we learned a lot from our very knowledgeable guide. The highlight was witnessing the enthusiastic reunion of 2 penguins, one of which was moulting and so staying at home while the other had just returned from the ocean. They literally hugged each other, flapping their little wings on each other's backs and rubbing their beaks together as if kissing. They were still entwined when we finally left them. Maybe they were newlyweds?? We got home about 11:15 pm, making for a long but enjoyable day in the sunny Australian outdoors.

A Broken Record

The big news in Adelaide this week is that the record for the number of days in a row with temperatures >35C was broken yesterday. The previous record was 9 days; we're at 11 days and still counting. Though we truly are enjoying a break from the snow, slushy ice, and gray skies we usually experience this time of year, we are getting a bit tired of the constant heat and intense sunshine. --Gee, that almost smacks of treason to my Michigander sensibilities. -- The high tomorrow is predicted to be 40C; that's about 104 F. Accompanying the heat wave, we're also in the midst of a drought, maybe 5 years long, that has resulted in mild water restrictions; we're allowed to use the outdoor hose only on Sundays between 7 - 10 a.m. and 6 - 9 p.m. I can't remember the last time it rained here. However, after living in Austin, TX for 8 years, I am heartily glad for the dryness; heat and humidity make for miserable companions.

Real Maple Syrup and Tasty Cheese

I went to the grocery store Monday, like I do most Mondays. As I grabbed a bottle of the only brand of real maple syrup this store carries, a Canadian import, I had to pause and consider whether that 1 cup of syrup was truly worth $7AUD. The pause was very brief. Real maple syrup is a "must have" in our household. We've become maple syrup snobs.

It is quite amazing to me that we can be living so far away from home and still be able to supply the particulars of our culinary preferences. Really, we can find most of the food items we routinely used back in A2, even some of the more unusual ones, though admittedly with fewer brand choices and a higher price tag attached. We can even find the imported goods we relied on back in the States, Dutch cheese and drop candy, as well as Italian parmesan, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. There are a few exceptions, of course. We were warned before we left that chili powder here is really just powdered chili peppers, not the blend of spices that we're accustomed to calling "chili powder." Also, decaf coffee, a daily consumable in our house, is available in so few brands (only 1 at our local grocery) and at such a high price, that David brought back 4 packages of his favorite brand when he went to the States on a business trip earlier this month. Other food items he brought back: 2 bottles of chili powder and a box of baking soda. There's a general murmur in this home that baking soda here causes a "soapy" taste in baked goods. . . .

Then there are the new foods which we've happily discovered here. Besides giving us a chuckle the first time we saw it in the store next to the "extra tasty cheese" brands, "tasty cheese" has become a household staple. (Tasty cheese is sharp cheddar.) The same is true for McVitties digestive biscuits, which I believe are also available in the USA. Cordials, Anzac cookies, and Sharp crackers are popular snacks with the kids. David and I appreciate the numerous bakeries sprinkled throughout the city and our nearby green grocer who sells consistently good fruits and vegetables for great prices. Though we haven't gotten into the ubiquitous sausages, we have succumbed to lamb steaks thrown on the barbie. Oh, yum!

I wonder if we'll be Australian tasty cheese snobs when we return to the USA?

Home, Sweet Ozland Home!

Ah, it worked. A few photos of our house here. Those are grapevines draped across the back patio. We do eat outside regularly

Hello from Ozland!

Hello! This is my first time to ever officially "blog," so hang with me as I learn the ropes. I know, I know; I am getting a late start. That way, you'll have no doubt that it is really me writing this, in case you were in doubt. However, it is true that we're almost halfway through our adventure at this point, so I have some catch up entries to write.

I think I'll start with our living arrangements. We have settled in here pretty well. We're really enjoying our rental house. It is about half the size of our A2 house with 3 bedrooms, 1 shower, wood floors, high ceilings, and closer quarters with neighbors. The furnishings are sparse; we bought a few used items from the friend of a friend here and a couple things from IKEA. The girls have to share a room, which I think they like as they have shoved their beds together to make one big bed in the middle of the room. We're also negotiating life with just 1 car. David occasionally braves the buses here. We enjoy being able to walk more in the course of our day-to-day lives. The girls walk to and from their school, 1 km. 1 way, and there is a shopping area about 7 minutes walk the other direction. I've joined Curves to keep up with some work outs, and that is a 5 minute walk.

One thing we've learned from this scaled back lifestyle is that we don't need all our "stuff" to be happy. We are really enjoying this minimalist lifestyle. There's somthing to be said for having fewer belongings to care for and being able to vacuum your entire house in 20 minutes. The greatest drawback of this living arrangement is the closer quarters with neighbors. We have a tap dancer to the south of us with a propensity to leave the windows open and a small sometimes yappy dog to the north. We're getting used to these noises now, and compared to the spontaneous and rather inelegant squawking of passing cockatoos, they're nothing. However, David and I do wonder just what neighbors can hear of our arguments, not that we ever argue. . . .

To come: In order to provide a more accurate picture of life here in Adelaide, Australia, the following topics will need to be addressed: driving in Adelaide, attempts to get a cup of decaf coffee at Adelaide coffee shops, spider encounters, reflections on exactly what constitutes this language"English," the Anglican church we're attending here, kids' transitioning to schools, our 2 week trip to New Zealand. . . . So, stay tuned. ..