I was just having a quick look at the Chicago Tribune news feed on my Google homepage and read this:
TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE: Popular bassinet linked to 2 deaths
My train of (stupid) thought was, "What's a bassinet? Is that some type of musical instrument? How could a musical instrument kill someone? Maybe there's something toxic in the metal?" My excuse is that perhaps that word just isn't used down here, although I just know someone is going to come and tell me differently, and I'll have to admit being a bit slow today. It reminded me of the time in England when I saw a sign that said "Zebra Crossing" and thought perhaps I'd unwittingly wandered into a wildlife reserve.
"Whereas the tourist generally hurries back home at the end of a few weeks or months, the traveler, belonging no more to one place than the next, moves slowly, over periods of years from one part of the earth to another." -Paul Bowles
Thursday, 28 August 2008
Monday, 25 August 2008
This Marriage Thing
I have a new link to share (over on the left). It's a great blog. Steve and I are celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary next week, whoo-hoo! It's been a busy year, and full of changes and accomplishments. I love being married. I was never one of those people who felt like I had to have a man to complete my life, but it sure is better with Steve around. Anyway, one of the recent posts on This Marriage Thing is about whether it is easier to get married to stay married. That almost seems like a no brainer. Marriage is work, but unlike my current job, it's the kind you enjoy going to every day;)
Shameless self promotion---if anyone wants to see, or re-see my wedding & honeymoon photos, click here.
Shameless self promotion---if anyone wants to see, or re-see my wedding & honeymoon photos, click here.
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Time for a Summer!
I haven't had a Summer in about 3 years. I am sooooo sick of Winter, and Spring, and Autumn! Because we've been moving between the top and bottom of the globe, and living in countries that don't really have summer (such as England and New Zealand), we've missed out on the past few summers. I have got a case of the winter cranks at the moment that I am not going to be able able to properly shift until I get some sunburn!!
Thursday, 14 August 2008
5 Birthdays in 5 Countries
I haven't really thought about it as such until today, but my last 5 birthdays have been in 5 different countries. At 28, I was in Northern Ireland staying with a loser boyfriend and his family and my mom was there to visit. At 29 I was back home in Chicago and my best friend had a party for me. About two weeks later I moved to Leeds, England to begin studies for my MA. At 30, I had a party for myself with my new friends and classmates in England. At 31, my fiance (husband to be 2 weeks later) picked me up from work and took me to a lovely restaurant for dinner on Auckland Harbour. And now, at 32, my husband (of almost 1 year) is taking me out to dinner at our favourite local Thai restaurant in a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, where we have settled permanently. It's almost unreal. It's not as though I was travelling to exotic and different places just for my birthday; I was living in them, making my way through my life, in a strange pattern that landed me here in Australia at the end of my journey.
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Things to Do, Part 3
Well, despite being incredibly busy both at work and home, I've managed to knock a few more things off my list of things to do. (Can you tell I'm a list making person?) There are a few things left, and a few things to add, some of which I've got on the brain for when my mom arrives for her 3 week visit at the end of September.
New To Do:
New To Do:
- See the movie 'You The Living'
Things To (Possibly) Do When Mom Visits:
Any other suggestions? We also plan to do a day tour of the Barossa (hubby as the guide), a trip to Handorf, Mt Lofty & The Giant Rocking Horse and general area, including, perhaps, Melba's chocolate factory, a Sunday trip to Port Adelaide market, and am sending the mother in law and mom on a day tour of the Murray/Coorong area.
Friday, 1 August 2008
Why I Watch Neighbours
If you're Australian, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Well, you will know what it is I watch, not necessarily why. Neighbours is an Australian night time soap opera, much like Emmerdale or Coronation Street in the UK. I'm not sure what I would compare it to in the US. I never watched soap operas in the US, except perhaps for when I was in 4th grade and snuck a peak before my mom got home from work, until I told on myself and was banned from ever watching them again (I was a nerdy kid). Now I tell myself I watch Neighbours for the same reason I watched Emmerdale and Coronation Street in England...to familiarise myself with my new culture. Of course, I think it is simply more a case of novelty and guilty pleasure. It's all bad TV, but it's fun (and the English ones are even more fun because the actors are so incredibly...um, ugly is a mean word but they are certainly 'down to earth' looking). I read something today in a book of Expat short stories (Expat: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad) I've got about turning into a film SLOB as opposed to a film snob, which I can identify with, on more than one level. SLOB stands for Sucka Living O'Broad, term coined by Emily Wise Miller in her short story 'Jean-Claude Van Damn That Was a Good Movie'. Excerpt below:
"When I've lived abroad, I've always been reasonably happy with the situation, and yet I can't help but feel nostalgic from time to time. American movies provide a glimpse of home without the plane ticket- often with recognizable landmarks or cityscapes of L.A., New York, or San Francisco. And they bring a taste of American life, American people interacting with one another, being very American and speaking English. You never feel more 'American', for better or for worse, than when living abroad. You start daydreaming avout gas dryers and twenty-four-hour Safeways. You find yourself in arguments defending Kraft American cheese (it tastes good on a burger). I even know a grown man who cried all the way through Dances with Wolves, which he saw in Pargue in 1991, just because it was filmed in South Dakota, his home state."
There is something about becoming an expat that somehow turns one into a fan of things you wouldn't normally touch with a ten foot pole. I even occasionally go into Starbucks and found myself slightly sad that the one here in Adelaide closed last week, although to be honest, the coffee was pants and the only thing I really liked about the shop was how festive they got at Christmas.
"When I've lived abroad, I've always been reasonably happy with the situation, and yet I can't help but feel nostalgic from time to time. American movies provide a glimpse of home without the plane ticket- often with recognizable landmarks or cityscapes of L.A., New York, or San Francisco. And they bring a taste of American life, American people interacting with one another, being very American and speaking English. You never feel more 'American', for better or for worse, than when living abroad. You start daydreaming avout gas dryers and twenty-four-hour Safeways. You find yourself in arguments defending Kraft American cheese (it tastes good on a burger). I even know a grown man who cried all the way through Dances with Wolves, which he saw in Pargue in 1991, just because it was filmed in South Dakota, his home state."
There is something about becoming an expat that somehow turns one into a fan of things you wouldn't normally touch with a ten foot pole. I even occasionally go into Starbucks and found myself slightly sad that the one here in Adelaide closed last week, although to be honest, the coffee was pants and the only thing I really liked about the shop was how festive they got at Christmas.
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