Homesickness

Homesickness, as defined by Wiki (Wikipedia) is the following: "Homesickness is generally described as a feeling of longing for one's familiar surroundings. It frequently occurs when one travels or, more rarely, when one experiences a sense of tumult within a familiar context. Homesickness is especially common in youth - one may experience a sense of dread or helplessness on their first day of school, or on a protracted summer vacation away from their parents, or during university, when many "leave the nest."

Here's my description: Homesickness bites my ass. Literally. It's like a tidal wave that you can't predict. Some days the ocean is calm, other days you're drowning. Like today - the minute I got on the bus to work I could feel the tears rise up. I made it into my office long enough to tell my boss I just couldn't do today and then turn around and get back on the bus home.

So, I keep trying to identify the triggers...I mean, besides the obvious "You're in another country, away from your house, away from your cat, away from your friends, away from your family."

Sometimes the hardest part for me is when I have contact with people from home. As much as I love Skype and being able to talk to people so easily - it's draining. When I get off the phone I have to extricate myself from Atlanta or CA or Alaska and recenter myself back in Canberra. That's why I've limited my time logged on at home and talking to people.. it's tough to maintain solid footing in both worlds. Because, let's face it, THIS is my world. Here in Canberra. My relationships with everyone have already changed. They probably changed the day I left town. I can't hold on too tight or I miss out on life here.

I got a package from my sister today and was able to talk to her while I opened it. Thank goodness I was able to share the opening process with her, otherwise it would have been too overwhelming. I think that's part of why this morning was tough... it takes a special effort to get to the post office because I have to either be late to work, come back on my lunch hour, or leave work early due to the hours. So it's an event to get a package. And packages are so great because they bring a piece of home here, but that's what makes them so hard too. So at least today I was able to talk to Maggie while I opened everything so the distance wasn't as acute.

Another thing that made me feel sad today - the brand of the glass on the windows in the bus. It's Plinkington, the same brand of glass that was used to replace the driver's side window in the truck after Christmas vacation last year. I remember because it's similar to Pennington, the street my house is on. I saw that on the glass this morning and it made me sad. Usually I can just notice it and move on. Not today.

And, as much fun as it's been to escape into 90210 land for the last couple of days - it does something to my head. Watching these people who used to be so familiar in clothes that I used to wear and in situations I've been in (okay, I've never saved a surfer girl, or been arrested for drunk driving, or fallen in love with a murder witness...but I have been to prom, had sex for the first time with my high school boyfriend, fought with friends, been worried about the SAT)...again, it's difficult to extricate into reality sometimes. I keep opening my closet expecting to find my high waisted jean shorts and boxy, extra-large T-shirts.

This really is a roller coaster and I don't know that I'm describing it very well. Most of the time I feel great and I know that I've made some fundamental changes in the last 2 months that are very positive and make me very happy. But there are times when I feel like I've been hit by a dump truck of emotions.

But, I'm also starting to realize that my home isn't a tangible place. My home is where my heart is. It's a new home here in Canberra but there are people here who make it feel right. And I'm so lucky to have a piece of every single one of my friends and family in my heart that I can turn to when I get overwhelmed and alleviate some of the homesickness.

already divorced?

Who's really surprised?

http://people.aol.com/people/article/0,26334,1563173,00.html

Ah the memories...

So this past weekend, I bought the first seasons of 90210 and Melrose Place. Yay!

I've started with 90210 and I'm just working my way through the season. It's a bit painful for the first couple of episodes, I can't even believe that it made it for a full season! Let me see if I can recap for you... for those of you who can't remember...

In the first 14 episodes, Brandon and Brenda et al have encountered more than the average teen... Brandon alone has dated a teen mom and successfully talks her out of giving her son up for adoption, has been with Steve when his car was stolen by 'older women', resuscitates a surfer girl he just met, gets arrested for drunk driving, and contemplates the cheating (oh horror). Brenda, on the other hand, has saved a girl from repeated date rapes, has been arrested for shoplifting, has made glamorous jeans from scratch to fit in, and has started her tumultuous relationship with Dylan.

It's really quite funny to watch these episodes again after so many years... I can't believe that we watched this in high school. Every single episode has a message. I don't think Laguna Beach works on the same premise.

My favorite thing so far is the episode about the Walsh's maid's niece who uses the Walsh's address to enroll in West Beverly High so as to escape the horrors of East LA. It's hard to believe that she's a down and out as she claims to be when she's wearing Guess jeans! Oh the fights I had with my mom back in the day over a stupid triangle on the butt of my jeans!!!!

My other favorite part is Donna... it's so obvious that she's been given a role because of her dad - I think her first line comes in the 4th episode, "Oh my gosh, I put both contacts in the same eye!" In the last episode she said that she wanted to "be a hooker so that she could meet Richard Gere." Nice role model.

Anyway - with the marathon of 90210 I'm feeling like I'm in a time warp. So on the bus ride home today I listened to my 'Katie's 80s' playlist - Tiffany, Debbie, and Belinda. It's great. Its nice to escape reality into the early 90s sometimes!



UPDATE: The episode I'm watching tonight had a guest cameo from Debbie Gibson herself! I love the early 90s!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is it - the pumpkin pie I made, from SCRATCH. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself! It was quite an adventure, creating pumpkin puree from a whole pumpkin. I used a buternut pumpkin and it was exactly the same as Libby's canned pumpkin. There was a slightly different flavor - maybe the pumpkin was a bit stronger - but other than that, the pie tasted jut like I expected. And real pumpkin is very orange... my kitchen looked like an orange, well, pumpkin, had exploded all over it. I used my blender, since I don't have a food processor, and it took some time, but eventually I got smooth puree.

With the leftover puree I made a pumpkin soup - not too bad... not that'd I'd ever serve it to anyone else, but I really liked it!

I took it into work and everyone really enjoyed it. They'd never had pumpkin pie before and I think they all really liked the spices - maybe they were just expecting plain pumpkin? That wouldn't be too yummy - it definitely needs the spice mix.



Last night I went over to my friend Emily's house and she cooked a roast - beef and veggies. We (her boyfriend, her, and I) watched the second Harry Potter and had dinner. It was a perfect way to celebrate my own Thanksgiving, so far away from all my loved ones.

I had woken up at 4am my time on Friday morning, trying to watch a bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - there's a fed of NBC Today at 4am on our NBC affiliate... but on Friday morning it wasn't there...it was an infomercia for losing weight. Not fun. So I was tired and cranky for the beginning part of Friday. But I did get to talk to all my family (I LOVE Skype!) so that was good. I vicariously enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner, football and shopping through them.

yummmmmmm

Gotta love the 21st century...

...only in today's world would I be able to wake up in Canberra, log on to my computer and hear a harrier take off in Yuma, Arizona.

I chatted with my Dad for a few minutes this morning before coming to work and he was sitting on the flightline in Yuma, using his wireless connection to talk to me over Skype.

Crazy.

Just for the record, I didn't identify the jet as a harrier - that was dad. It sounded like any other jet to me over the 'phone'.

more glossary entries

Today has been a day of learning...

purse=wallet
handbag=purse

What we call a purse at home is a handbag here. A wallet at home is either a wallet (if it's like a guy's wallet and just folds over) or a purse (if it's like a girl's wallet and has a zip pocket and is fatter.

paw paw = papaya

MOLASSES!
I love my gingerbread. But you need molasses to make gingerbread. I had an inkling that something was up when I saw a recipe for gingerbread that included golden syrup. What the heck is that? Then my second clue that something was different was when I asked my co-worker about molasses, her look was priceless. "What do you want horse food for?", she asked. I tried to explain what I meant, but it's really hard when you're used to one word for something and they are used to another. It's like a different language or something. :)

This is what I've discerned so far...I've bought some treacle to try at home tonight, and we'll see if it's molasses. (I think treacle is dark molasses and golden syrup is light molasses). I think they are all essentially the same things - sugar treated different ways.

golden syrup = molasses
treacle = molasses
molasses = horse food


PUMPKIN!


My goodness... The last time I thought this much about pumpkin was... well, I don't know that I ever have. I've always let Linus do the worrying about the "Great Pumpkin". Ha Ha. Bad joke, I know.

But, since Thanksgiving is this Thursday, I've decided to make a pumpkin pie for my new colleagues. Only problem is, they don't have canned (tinned) pumpkin. In fact, when I've asked for it, no one can even understand what I'm asking for. They look at me like I've got three heads. Not kidding. And they can't get their head wrapped around the fact that we DON'T use pumpkin for much else besides pumpkin pie. It's a very common squash here, and they roast it, make soup out of it, in general, eat it a lot more than we do. It's like sweet potatoes I guess - eaten in more ways than just pie.

So, for my pumpkin pie on Thursday, I'm going to be making it from scratch. with a butternut pumpkin (which I'm told is the sweetest of the three we saw in the store (butternut, Queensland Grey (or Queensland Blue), and the Jap (or Kent)).

What we call pumpkins at home (the traditional round orange) are competition pumpkins here, grown just for show.

Seriously - my head is spinning. And I'm a little bit hungry.

(But that's no surprise really.)

bits and pieces

Some entries for the glossary:
doona = comforter (or duvet, depending on your preference)
bitumen = asphalt
thongs = flip-flops
bogan = redneck/someone from the country
'far out': commonly used slang - I'd probably say weird in its place

My co-worker Jenny was telling me that her new spin instructor is from Kentucky and played "Georgia On My Mind" in their class the other day. It makes me a bit sad to think about hearing that song over here - I'm glad I didn't hear it, I probably would've shed a tear. Weird, huh?

Had a 4 hour brunch on Sunday with some new friends. It was quite nice if a bit tiring... for one thing, a marathon brunch is unusual at home - they are too busy trying to get the next table seated to let you linger that long!

And as much as it's great to get out and interact with people - it's tiring being a novelty and an unknown. People are naturally curious and I try to oblige, but to be honest I don't think too much about the subtle differences between here and home, or the things I miss the most, or the things I don't like about Canberra. I'm here now and I'm trying to live here...in this moment - which means I don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about those types of things. I can think about them when I'm asked too... but brunch this weekend made me miss being with people that know me really well... people that can appreciate my sarcasm (sarcasm doesn't go over very well here) and people that make me laugh as much as I make them laugh. I really miss that.

And it's weird to constantly defend my being in Canberra... even in Sydney, perfect strangers looked aghast when I told them where I was living. Which I can sort of understand since they live in Sydney.. but I'm very happy to be in Canberra. It's the right size, speed, and feel for me right now. I need to come up with a one-liner to say to people... something other than "it's where the job was".

Because to be perfectly honest - I really like Canberra. On my bike ride the other morning I was in city center one minute and then 15 minutes later I was in pasture surrounded by cows. And I can actually ride my bike to work, which I did this morning, and not feel like I'm taking my life in my hands or that I'm inhaling only smog. And I can hear myself think here, which is priceless in my eyes.

So. I'm feeling a bit defensive, but it's hard to be an unknown that people are trying to figure out when I'm doing the same thing myself.

Jess or Damien?

I've officially adopted my new home - I'm on the edge of my seat with the rest of Australia - Will the next Australian Idol be Jessica or Damien?

While I never watched American Idol at home (ok, maybe just a little...but not every week...I swear!) Australian Idol seems more wholesome, more real. Maybe it's the accents?



Whatever it is, I actually had tears in my eyes after tonight's performances. They are amazing, these two.

But if I had to pick, I'd pick Damien. No, Jess. No, Damien. I don't know! Damien's CD is one I'd play all the time. But Jess' voice evokes the best of Mariah, Whitney, Celine (a surprise, yes, that I like someone with a voice like theirs. I know.)

Anyway - I guess I'll have to wait and see with the rest of Australia next week at the Opera House.

My home away from home

Here are some pictures of my apartment...

My bedroom:


My bedroom, take 2:


My sudy nook (with three clocks on the wall - Alameda, Canberra, and Atlanta):


The kitchen and living space, taken from the veranda:


The view from the veranda - the inside courtyard of the complex:


The living room (look - I picked it up for you!):


The kitchen - the coolest thing you can't see is the drawer dishwasher:

sweet sleep

I feel like I could sleep for 3 days straight.

It's the weekend now. Maybe I will.

"caticons"...

...like emoticons, but cuter....

this is how I feel some mornings when I wake up and realize I'm in Canberra, not Atlanta...




...and this is how I feel when I get home from work.



And if I've been on the bus too long - watch out...

Sydney for the weekend

See, now that I LIVE in Australia, I can do things like go to Sydney for the weekend.

In fact, I may do it so much that it becomes rote, mundane, boring even. But it's not like that yet. I got to go to Sydney for the weekend man! Without enduring hours on a jet, suffering from jet lag, or shelling out thousands of dollars. Oh wait, I get to do that to go home. In the other hemisphere. I seem to be obsessed with that fact lately - that I live in a different hemisphere. All of a sudden the $700 plane tickets to get from Atlanta to CA seem shockingly reasonable. But I digress...

I met my friend Jim (from UCSD) in Sydney for the weekend. The ya-ya girls are coming here for Christmas and New Year's and our task for the weekend was to scope out Sydney Harbour for potential New Year's Eve spot. We stayed at my friend Jennie's place in Clovelly - an eastern suburb, near all the eastern beaches. All weekend I was having major orientation issues - the ocean is on the wrong side man! I kept thinking north was south and vice versa, and you couldn't pay me to correctly tell you where east was. But whatever, I wasn't orienteering, I was enjoying being near the beach.

This is me with Bondi in the background. Jim and I walked from Clovelly to Bondi on Saturday - about 6 miles round trip. It was a gorgeous day and the "Sculptures by the Sea" exhibit was on, a large public sculpture exhibit. By the Sea. I know it's hard to discern what it actually was from the name.






There were some very cool sculptures. My favorite was the following - from one direction it was













From the other direction it was














Some of my other favorites were the melting ice cream truck


and the silhouetted women


Saturday evening Jim and I went to a show at the Opera House - a very weird drama called "Hospital" - an dance performance/play written by a Norwegian about 3 women, speaking in a nonsense language based on Icelandic, who were going crazy in a deserted military hospital. I'm sure it had deeper meaning than that, but I couldn't get it.
http://www.jskompani.no/pages/productions/the_hospital.html
I just read a bit more about it, and I got none of that from the show. I think I'm too literal. Or I could have used the Cliff Notes.

We had dinner at the cafe and discovered that there is a New Year's Eve concert and gala that we have convinced the ya-yas to go to - so we'll be spending New Year's in the Opera House with a view of the bridge for the fireworks. YAY!

Winter temps 6 weeks before Christmas?

Seems perfectly normal to me!!

Today there was a cold snap in Canberra and surrounding areas - the lowest November temperatures on record. Right now it is 8 degrees. That's celsius - somewhere around 46 degrees F. Not so bad for November you're saying to yourself, right?

But I'm in the SOUTHERN hemisphere - where Christmas is celebrated on the beach in a bathing suit, because the seasons are all backwards down here. So it's not normal to be 40 degrees in November. So the news is all about the 'unseasonable cold snap that brought snow to the mountains around Canberra'. I say it sounds just right.

My head hurts form all the blood rushing to it. (It's been hard being upside down for the last couple of months.)

A judge had to decide this?

In the news this morning:

Burrito isn't a sandwich, judge rules

A United States judge in the state of Massachusetts has settled a legal food fight by ruling that a burrito is not a sandwich.

Bakery-cafe restaurant chain Panera Bread has been trying to keep competitor Qdoba Mexican Grill from opening a new restaurant in a shopping mall where Panera was already doing business.

In a lawsuit filed earlier this year, Panera had cited an exclusivity clause in its lease agreement that prevented the shopping mall from renting space to any restaurant or bakery that derived more than 10 per cent of its sales from sandwiches.

Shopping mall owner White City Shopping Centre countered that Qdoba is not in the business of selling sandwiches but rather burritos, tacos, nachos and enchiladas.

In deciding the case, Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke found the meat of his ruling in the dictionary definition of the word 'sandwich'.

Judge Locke says the New Webster Third International Dictionary's definition of sandwich, "two thin pieces of bread, usually buttered, with a thin layer (as of meat, cheese, or savoury mixture) spread between them", indicates there is no reason to keep White City from renting to Qdoba.

"Under this definition and as dictated by common sense, this court finds the term 'sandwich' is not commonly understood to include burritos, tacos, and quesadillas, which are typically made with a single tortilla and stuffed with a choice filling of meat, rice, and beans," the judge said.

Neither Panera nor Qdoba's corporate parent, Jack in the Box have responded to requests seeking comment. AFP

90210 on demand and a free Brit. Love it!

Can it be true? 90210 and Melrose Place on DVD?

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-11-01-melrose-90210-DVD_x.htm

Now, I don't normally get my news from USA TODAY. But this is good stuff people. I'll freely admit that I'm very excited by this news.

Almost as excited as I am that Brit seems to have waken up from her 2 year romp in white trashville. Back-up dancers from Fresno are NO GOOD.

Kangaroos at Sunset

Linda and I went to my boss' house for a barbie last night. After dinner we went for a stroll, which I love to do at their place, because about 10 minutes away from their house you are in the bush and there are kangaroos everywhere. Literally. It's the coolest thing. Last night we got pretty close to them. It's difficult with my digital camera to get a good shot since the light is so low at twilight, but I got this shot of them hopping away from us.

A good weekend

This was a very good weekend! My frined Linda is in town from Atlanta. She and her husband were here on Friday... he headed home to the US on Saturday morning (he'd been here for 3 weeks - including a motorcycle tour of the South Island of New Zealand). After we dropped Andy off at the airport, Linda and I did some shopping around town and I got a bike! It's very exciting to have some freedom - I can't wait to explore Canberra on bike and to start commuting to work. It'll be about a 20 minute bike ride, on nice bike paths. Canberra is such a great combination of country town and just enough city to be perfect. I'm loving it.

This is me with my new bike on Lake Burley-Griffin. After we bought the bike, Linda rented a bike and we went for a test ride around the lake.




Then today, Linda and I went for a hike in Namadgi National Park, shich is about 1 hour south of Canberra. It was so gorgeous. It reminded me a lot of Yosemite and Sequoia National Park in California. The climate here is very similar to CA actually. Here's Linda and me at the Booroomba Rocks.

Hawaii Pictures!

I finally uploaded some of my Hawaii photos... click on the pictures in the FlickR box in the right hand navigation pane and you can check them out.

Katie and Kangaroos

This is a picture from my first weekend in Canberra - Saturday, 16 September. Katie with Kangaroos - on the University of Canberra campus.

Only in Katie's world...

...would you hear "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" (Billy Joel) followed by "California Love" (TuPac and Dr. Dre) and "Nobody Owns Me" (Belinda Carlisle) on your iPOD.

There's something oddly empowering about walking along with all the other people from the bus station in the morning, with TuPac in your ear... "Only in Cali where we riot not rally to live and die". Makes me wonder what other people are listening to.

ALthough - I will say that the culture of iPOD is oddly isolating. On the bus, everyone has earphones on and so everyone is in their own little world. Human interaction is rare. No good if you are new to town. Not that the people on the bus are who I want to be interacting with, but they might be.