Birthday Tea

At work yesterday, we had a morning tea for my birthday. We had it on Thursday instead of Wednesday so that everyone could be there. Robyn works part-time and she was making the cake, so she had to be there! I requested an angel food/sponge cake with strawberries and cream (my birthday tradition - I remember my first birthday in San Diego (my 21st!), Mom and Dad and Maggie came down to San Diego in the RV for Crew Classic because both Doug and I were racing and it coincided with my birthday. Mom had made 2 angel food cakes in ALameda that she brought down with them. How cool is that?).

Anyway, Robyn delivered, with gusto! It was soooo good. She made a layered sponge cake, with strawberries in the middle (soaked in sugar like Mom used to do) and then cream and chocolate flake on the top. They all sang Happy Birthday, followed by 3 very loud "Hip. Hip. Hooray!"s, which is apparently an Aussie tradition.

Me and the cake:





Me and Emily and Jenny (both of whom used to work with me but are in different parts of the department now, but we have lunch together every week):



They got me a CD and a pair of earrings as a gift. The CD is Triple J's Top 100. Triple J is a national radio station in Oz, and on Australia Day, which is in January (sort of like 4th of July for us) they do a countdown of the top 100 songs in Oz, as voted by the listeners (online I think. See, R and A - they DO do everything online down here!). Basically Australia Day is all about having a barbie with friends and listening to Triple J's Top 100. Then they put out a CD - and that's what I got. It's a great mix of Aussie artists and other artists (US, UK, etc). The top 3 songs this year were Aussie artists, which was a first I think.

Thanks B!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

32 years old. Sheesh.

How cute is this?

For 'dinner' tonight, I had a cup-o-noodles. Inside was a plastic fork, with which to eat my noodles. It came folded up like this:



And it folds out to this: (those are keys in the background)



And it works too. How dang cute is that???

Screensavers at work

The Department of Health and Ageing provides our screensaver at work. Every month there's a different 'campaign' of education and the screensavers reflect this.

Some current ones:

"Count your drinks for better health"
- This includes a graphic of common drinks (beers, cocktails, wine) and how many standard drinks are in each and what the daily limits are for men and women. Women should no more than 2 Standard Drinks per day on average and NEVER more then 4 Standard Drinks per day.

"YOUR WORKPLACE - It's that simple"
-In this one the OUR is colored differently to emphasize the Your/Our synergy.

"Office Paper Recycling"
-This has a checklist of what can and cannot be recycled. Telephone books - Yes. Waxed or Greasy paper - No.

Capsicum versus Bell Pepper

Every time I call a bell pepper a pepper I get strange looks. In Oz, bell peppers are called capsicums. I've tried to argue that I'm just as right in calling a 'capsicum' a pepper', but to no avail.

I went to Wikipedia:

"The name given to the fruits varies between English-speaking countries.

In Australia, New Zealand and India, heatless species are called "capsicums" while hot ones are called "chilli/chillies" (double L). The term "bell peppers" is rarely used, usually in reference to C. annuum and other varieties which look like a "capsicum" or bell but are fairly hot.

In the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada, the heatless varieties are called "peppers", "sweet peppers" or "capsicums" (or "green peppers," "red peppers," etc) while the hot ones are "chilli/chillies" (double L) or "chilli peppers".

In the United States, the common heatless species is referred to as "bell peppers," "sweet peppers," "red/green/etc peppers," or simply "peppers", while the hot species are collectively called "chile/chiles," "chili/chilies," or "chili/chile peppers" (one L only), "hot peppers", or named as a specific variety (e.g., banana pepper). In many midwestern regions of the United States the Sweet Bell Pepper is commonly called a mango.[1] With the modern advent of fresh tropical fruit importers exposing a wider latitude of individuals to the tropical fruit variety of the Mango, this definition is becoming archaic. However many menus still call a stuffed Bell Pepper a Mango.

The name "pepper" came into use because the plants were hot in the same sense as the condiment black pepper, Piper nigrum. But there is no botanical relationship with this plant, nor with Sichuan Pepper."

So, technically, thre's no winner to this argument. But capsicum sounds so pretentious to me, I have a hard time calling a regular bell pepper a capsicum. Like when I'm at Subway - I have to remember to call it capsicum because if I ask for peppers I get the ground up black stuff.

Just another example of he subtle differences.

The Quiet American

I just finished watching 'The Quiet American'. I read the book about a year ago, but the movie made me think more. I probably read the book at the same time that I was reading 3 others (as I usually do) so I didn't get it.

Now - I'm going to be completely honest in this post and I welcome responses, educations, rebuttals. Because I'm the first to admit that my knowledge of politics, particularly the politics of the military and war, is small.

But I still have questions. What's with America? Can we just not leave anything alone? Stopping communism appears to be the reason we were in Vietnam so early and why troops were sent over officially. But why? Was a communist Vietnam that much of a threat to our existence? Is a non-democratic Iraq that much of a threat to our existence? Is it really our goal to live on a democratic planet with all countries the same? WHy can't there be differences in governing? Who's to say that our morals are the ones that should be imposed? When is the line crossed between assistance and direction? Can't we just let things lie as they are? Or - if we are going to have a hand in everything - do we have to make up reasons to go, make up justifications for our actions?

It's just confusing to me. Am I suposed to just trust that the people in Washington are making deicisons correctly? Or that they have in the past? When is war ever justified?

Is it me?

I just got back from an evening of drinks and dinner with a group of people - friends of my friend J. J is moving overseas for work and she got together a group of her friends for the evening. A couple of them I'd met before, but most I hadn't. Nothing new there - I don't know that many people here.

Now that I'm home, I just have a weird feeling. Like there's some secret codebook of relevance that I don't have a copy of. Like there's some reason I still feel like I just moved here and know no-one. Canberra's not a big place. One of the girls I met tonight works with the husband of the woman I sit across from at work and knows my friend C in Sydney (who's also in food safety). Her husband works in the agriculture deaprtment on horticulture (fruits/vegs) for christsakes - the same thing I work on, but from the regulatory side. It's not like there are that many people in the food safety community. But even THAT connection doesn't guarantee anything. I'm still left feeling like a lone sock hanging on the clothesline in wintertime.

One of the guys that was out tonight, H, I've known since I moved here. He was so great when I first moved over here, stopping by to take me out to dinner, we'd rent movies together - just hang out. It was really easy. But I haven't had a conversation longer than 5 strained interchanges with him since December. He just stopped coming around and when we do talk - all I get is the "I've been really busy" response to everything. So I've stopped sharing - it's a two-way street. And I haven't seen J since December either - granted, she was on holiday for 7 weeks and then I was in the states - but the few times we've attempted to hook up since she's been back have failed. I just don't get it.

I don't remember it being this tough in Atlanta. I know it was hard, but there's something different about making friends here. I feel like there's this huge-ass wall in the way. When I first meet someone, there's the initial novelty of being American and explaining what I'm doing here. And my asking them about what they do and how long they've been in Canberra and where there're from (no-one's from Canberra). Then it stops. There's that damn wall.

But with J and H I felt like we'd moved past that in December and had gotten to the point where we were able to just hang out and talk about nothing. Every conversation didn't have to be about the new-ness of here or those questions you ask people as you're getting to know them. But now it's back to square one. And I'm flummoxed. Is it me?

Have I lost the ability to small talk? Can I not connect with people anymore? I feel like I'm quiet most of the time in big groups at dinner - it's usually a dinner for someone else and it's not about me. But I know there's more to me than just that initial stuff - how do I get that out there? I keep telling myself to be patient - the friendship will grow, but I don't know what else I can do. I know that I'm a fun person to be around and that I'm a good friend - how can it be that there aren't any like minded people in my life yet? Is being American really that much of a handicap? Is there really such a large divide between Aussies and Americans?

I think there is a fundamental difference in cultures going on here. Aussies appear to be really open - to a certain extent. I feel like at home, when I meet someone that I get on with, it just happens naturally that it evolves into a friendship. Or maybe I have the liberty of time and just don't remember the first year of becoming friends with the people I now feel like I've known forever. But I do think there is something different. I've been hangng out with this guy T, who I met indirectly through one of my ya-yas in San Diego. He's great, and so easy to hang out with. 3, 4 hours will pass - no problem. He's lived over here much longer than I have and a lot of our talk is commiserating about how difficult it is to meet and get to know people here! And while I recognize that that specific conversation is not one I can have with new Aussies that I meet, there's just something more familiar about T that makes it that much easier. It's a relief. I really feel like I don't know what's going on inside the Aussie head sometimes - there's definitely something that I'm missing.

Saviors from South Carolina

This past weekend I flew up to Cairns. Monday was Canberra Day, and a public holiday, so I took advantage of a long weekend and a cheap fare to go back to Cairns - site of Holiday Moment #3 and #3a. The dive instructor was the reason I went back, and after this weekend, the reason I won't be going back. At least not to see him.

Note to self - a holiday hookup + a hot bod + 3 months of text messaging + an ego the size of Oz itself DOES NOT EQUAL a good time for Katie.

However, I did meet RW and AW, a newlywed couple from South Carolina that were on the last week of their honeymoon. AW and I were seated next to each other in the exit row and as she and her husband were talking I thought I detected a familiar accent. Once we started talking I realized she was wearing a Clemson hat. Yay for the southland.

We talked for the whole 3 hour flight, even though I had totally been planning on going to sleep for the whole trip, having awakened at 5 that morning to take a 3 hour bus ride to Sydney, and then waited 2 hours for the flight. But we had such a good time talking and the 3 hours flew by. They told me about their honeymoon (Rarotonga, New Zealand (Tongariro Crossing), Sydney, Cairns) and I told them how I came to be in Oz. As we got closer to Cairns I finally decided AW could be told the truth about my trip (I'd started out the conversation by saying I was going up to hang out with a friend). I told her about SF, the dive instructor. As she pressed for details, I realized I had none. I had no idea what we were planning to do for the weekend. None at all. I had 2 days in Cairns with no plan, with someone I'd had 1 brief phone conversation with in the last 3 months. It started to sound ludicrous, even to me. Luckily I had them to laugh with about it. So we landed and I shared a taxi with them into town - to their hotel.

Long story short: I hung out with RW and AW more than I did with SF. I certainly had better conversation with them and more fun with them.

We had a couple of Guinesses for St. Paddy's Day, swam in the pool at their hotel and then I left them to go meet up with SF. He was just as hot as I remembered, but there reality was shocking. For the next 2 days, except when I was with RW and AW I felt like I was in high school again. Back in the day when I had no life or interests of my own per se and everything revolved around the boy. Even if the boy was playing video games. Yes, I'll admit it. I actually WATCHED SF playing FIFA 07. It lloks like a great game, but at 31 - almost 32, my days of watching a boy play video games are LONG behind me. For the record SF, that's something you get to do when you don't have a visitor in town.

I'll spare you the gory details of the 48 hours, but some of the highlights - watching the movie Norbit on Sat night. Watching The Good Shepard, by myself, on Sunday morning while he ran out to his friend's house. Sitting in the doctor's office for 90 minutes on Monday morning while he had x-rays for a sky-diving accident he had last week (for the record, his legs weren't broken). Making dinner for him Monday night (he HAD made dinner the previous 2 nights - wait. was that in his defense?) while he sat out in the living room with his 2 roommates (did I mention there were roommates there the whole time?) speaking German. And pretending to be impressed when his FAKE FIFA team scored a goal. SERIOUSLY, it's just a video game.

So, I say again, thank god for RW and AW. I stopped by their hotel more than a couple of times through out the weekend - for a reality check, mostly. We had drinks on Sunday night (SF came but left early) and the highlight was going fishing with them on Monday afternoon. Even though it was a 6 hour fishing trip, it was no big deal, as SF had to teach a first aid course at his place that afternoon anyway. I think he had really expected me to hang out at the house while he taught it.

So, even though I've never held a fishing rod before and I did end up taking a couple of naps, I had a great time fishing because RW and AW are just great. I was totally stoked to have met them. I felt bad that I crashed their honeymoon, but as they both said, they were at the end of 3 weeks together and it was nice to focus on someone else for a while. And I was happy to get away from my reality.

However, as bad as the weekend was, I don't regret going out there. I do these things. All in the name of 'love'... looking for a connection...ever hopeful that someday it'll work out. You never know if you don't take chances. The last time I flew that far to see someone I'd met once it was amazing. And he and I are still close friends to this day. So, you just never know.

Now, I can't say I wasn't warned. My ya-yas knew the score when we met SF in December. But I'm eternally optimistic. But they were right.


Here are some pics from the weekend. Nope, no pics of SF. It was hard to get a good angle when he was sitting in front of the TV all weekend. (me, bitter? no. besides, he's not worth a pic anyway.)


Look, I can take a picture with food and keep my mouth closed. And you thought it wasn't possible.


The newlyweds on St. Paddy's Day!


RW and his Mangrove Jack. This one was NOT a fluke. And it was almost a record - 47.5 cm. And that guy had some teeth on him!


AW and I keeping the rain off our heads. It rained the 10 minutes we were docking at the end of the day, so we wet home wet. But hey, it's Far North Queensland. In the wet season. It's amazing that it didn't rain the whole day!

Bush's America and Hitler's Germany?

I recently joined the ANU Film Group - a group that screens about 60 films a semester. For $35 a semester I can go to any shows I want, from recent blockbusters (I saw Blood Diamond last week) to more political films and shorts, and everything in between.

Tonight they screened a movie called 'Sophie Scholl: The Final Days". From the website:

"The true story of Germany's most famous anti-Nazi heroine is brought to thrilling life in the multi-award winning drama SOPHIE SCHOLL-THE FINAL DAYS. Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film of 2005, SOPHIE SCHOLL stars Julia Jentsch in a luminous performance as the young coed-turned-fearless activist. Armed with long-buried historical records of her incarceration, director Marc Rothemund expertly re-creates the last six days of Sophie Scholl's life: a heart-stopping journey from arrest to interrogation, trial and sentence."



It's an impressive movie about a woman I'd never heard of before last night. Definitley worth seeing.

As I was leaving the theater, I overheard 2 women talking in front of me. "The arbitrary-ness [of the Nazi High Court] is exactly what America is doing... like Guantanamo..."

That comment really struck me like a thunderbolt. My first reaction was to become totally offended (not enough to say anything, but enough to dismiss the comment out of hand in my head). Then, on my bike ride home I realized that I have no knowledge with which to judge that statement. Just my faith that America is good and therefore could not be doing anything as reprehensible as what was portrayed in the movie tonight.

The more I thought about it though - there's a lot of similar language n the movie to what I've heard. "aiding the enemy", "abetting terrorism". Terrorism is a word I've never really thought about before. The first thing that springs to mind is people in the desert, holding machine guns over their head, covered in masks and turbans and robes. (thanks to the American media for perpetrating that image).

"An end in terror is peferable to terror without end". This is a quote from the last leaflet The White Rose (the resistance group that Sophie and her brother started) wrote before they were executed for high treason.

Is Bush's America terror? I don't think so. But nothing else I've run across in the last 6 years has made me actually ask that question like this movie has. And that's not to say the information isn't out there - I've been avoiding it all. I claim to be apolitical, however I vote Democratic without really thinking, assuming they are the 'better' party. Really it's just laziness on my part to actually educate myself. I'm afraid it'll be like the omnipresent bumper sticker in Berkeley - "If you aren't mad, you aren't paying attention" I don't want to be mad though. I like being happy.

But what do I really know about what's going on in the name of America? Is Guantanamo like a Nazi High Court, with no justice, no presumption of innocence, with no conscience?

I do know one difference between Bush's America and Hitler's Germany. I'm not in danger of losing my head to the guillotine for asking questions like this. But I also know that that freedom is not due to Bush - it's what America is founded on and generations of men and women have ensured its tenacity. But what am I complicitly party to in the name of 'fighting terror'?

Looks like I have a lot to learn for myself.

gradually, then suddenly

I watched Prozac Nation tonight. I know. Fun Friday night for Katie. (Don't worry - I've rented the Mandy Moore classic, 'Chasing Liberty' as a chaser).

I actually really liked Prozac Nation. I'm glad I didn't watch it while I was in Atlanta though. Would have hit too close to home. I've been havng thoughts lately about how damn lucky I am to have this opportunity. To have been able to COMPLETELY change my life and shake things up. I'm glad I decided to do this. And by 'this' I mean move to OZ, not rent PN.

In the movie the pills give Lizzie 'room to breathe'. And in a sense, that what this move has been for me. Natural prozac. That takes a while to get going in my bloodstream.

What in life doesn't happen gradually, then suddenly? I know that when I moved to Atlanta I hated it. But then one day I didn't. One day I realized I could transform my relationships with people in CA into something else that was just as valuable as being around each other. And the same thing here. I can't say that I've hated it, but it has been tough. But, suddenly, it's not so bad. And the people I've left behind in Atlanta haven'tforgotten me because I'm not there.

I have no idea where this post is going.

"gradually, then suddenly"

no!!!!!!

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20014941,00.html

As my friend the Redhead said a couple of weeks ago - god help me if I ever ACTUALLY meet Lance. WHo knows what I would do.

I have a problem.

My name is Katie, and I'm addicted to Lance.

Please help me.

Darken the lights in a gym... call it a dance

Listening to my iTunes this evening, the song "All At Once" by Whitney Houston came on. WIth those first few notes I was immediately transported back to 1989. Standing in the semi-dark in the gym at Lincoln Middle School in Alameda. With the first few notes the energy of the room changes as girls get nervous and boys, well, I don't know how the boys reacted tot he emergence of a slow song at the school dance.

It's a Friday evening and a mere 6 hours ago, the gym was ablaze with lights as the last gym class of the day filed through. I can still faintly smell the lasagna and french-bread pizza served for lunch but I'm standing there with my friends, tryng to look nonchalant, but knowing EXACTLY where he is. You know the guy. When I first started middle school, in 6th grade, it was PF. Then he got uber-popular and started dating NM. I was just peripheral friends (if that) with this group. The guys in my group were DB and DS. In eighth grade DS was the one I kept an eye on.

I remember our graduation dance, in the same gym. Somehow our friends finally finagled it so that when the notes of the last slow song of our graduation dance, he really had no choice but to ask me. Thinking back, I'm sure it was so NOT subtle. I can still feel the scratchiness of his wool blazer on my cheek and can remember very clearly the floral dress I was wearing. There is one picture of this moment, with DS looking the other direction and me making some super lovely face at the camera. I think that song couldn't end soon enough.

But every time I hear this song it takes me immediately back, and I kind of don't want the song to end. Maybe if I play it on repeat long enough I can more clearly remember all that happened back then... who was I back then? How did I get here from there? It amazes me to think back to that Katie - SO young. I had no idea what was in store. :)

DS and I never did date in high school... the first 2 years of high school were about DB and SY, until JW. But that's another post. Heck, another life. By that time the high school dances had a totally different feel than the middle school ones. In high school there was so much more at stake - there was the actual potential of kissing. And so many more people to see you and talk about it the next Monday.

I don't remember too many high school dances until JW. Our first dance "together" was the Winter Ball my sophomore year. In the winter, I wore another dang floral dress. So 'with it', that was me. Sheesh. Remember posing for pictures at high school dances? Man. Those pictures are all in my cedar chest at my mom's house. A few years after high school, after JW ad I had finally extricated ourselves from each other, I came across a black and white candid from that first Winter Ball. We're sitting on the wooden stands that had been pushed back against the wall. We aren't looking at each other, and I look sort of nervous, while he is looking away. A couple of Christmases ago I pulled out all those pictures - all the formals we went to, the pictures of the corsages being put on, the dried flowers. (yes, I have some of those). All that stuff is so evocative yet so foreign today.

Ah, first love. How sweet. I don't know that I'd want to do it again to be honest. Even though I can't remember everything clearly (that was so damn long ago!) I am so much more comfortable with who I am now, which means that edge of insecurity that underlies everything in high school is gone. Thank god.

You know, I sort of feel like John Cusak in High Fidelity (sorry, I can't remember the character's name). Having removed myself from my normal life in the US, I feel like I'm taking stock of every single relationship or 'interaction' I've had in the last 16 years. I must be looking for some kernel of truth from each of them. Will I know it when I find it? Will I know when to just let go?

Closure is a funny thing. WIth JW, I'm not sure I knew the last time I saw him would be the last. That the last time we talked would be it. I still keep in touch with his sister-in-law (she dated his brother in high school and they've been married for almost 10 years now). I actually saw her when I was in CA, and her 3 kids (who are just gorgeous). I didn't see her husband, which is probably a good thing - I think it'd be really weird to see him. JW did come up - of course. He's happy now, which is good. She offered to give me his email, but I have no idea what I'd even say. Can you go back that far and find what you're looking for? To find it, you'd probably have to know what it is you're actually looking for. And I don't know. I think the end of our relationship was tough on both of us. I actually took my college boyfriend to her wedding, where JW was best man (of course, since it was his brother). What was I thinking? SN and I hadn't been together that long at that point, which means that JW and I weren't that far from being over, and 4 years doesn't disappear that quickly. I don't know that I'll get closure on that relationship. But maybe that's okay. I know that he's happy now and I know that I'm happy now, and really that's what matters now in this moment.

And this moment is what life is all about.

But it is sometimes nice to go back. Even if it's only for 3 minutes.

Thanks for the laughs, Rummy.

I know this quote is super old, but it's just classic.

The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.

—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing
Donald H. Rumsfeld

I'm putting together a talk on fresh produce outbreaks for a conference later this week and one of my co-workers suggested I include this quote for a bit of levity, since there is a lot about fresh produce outbreaks that is, in fact, unknown. However, I don't think I should introduce myself to the communicable diseases community of Australia with a quote from Donald Rumsfeld.

Besides, I'd be laughing too hard to continue with my talk.

Shira's married!

I was in CA a couple of weeks ago (I know that's a surprise to most of you) for my friend Shira's wedding. I can't believe she's actually married now. And has a real job at a university. And her PhD. And is looking for a house to buy in LA. CRAZY adult things.

I took only a few photos at the actual wedding, but here is the happy couple's first dance.




And here are some random pics of me and Shira and me and some of the other bridesmaids - we had such a good time together!

6 months!

Well, today, March 11, marks my 6 month anniversary with Canberra.

I really can't believe it's been 6 months already. How crazy is that? On the one hand last September seems so far away, but on the other hand, I feel like I just left Atlanta last week.

I had a good weekend in Canberra - I think this place is starting to fit me. Or I'm starting to fit it. In any event, I certainly am starting to feel a little more dialed in to people... no-one to touch the friends in Atlanta or California, but the beginnings of some good friendships (she said optimistically).

This past weekend I went out for drinks with my housemate Jen on Friday, played soccer with my co-worker Jenny on Saturday morning, went for a walk around the lake with my friend Tom, watched a great fireworks show on Saturday night with my boss and his kids, and today I went to breakfast with Jen, and then met up with the group I went camping with a month or so ago for drinks this evening. Not too shabby. At least I had real conversations with people rather than spending a weeked without interacting with anyone! Even though no-one is like anyone at home, I'm hopeful that in someone I'll find a kindred spirit.

When I was home in CA, the idea of coming back here was really overwhelming. As exhausting as my trip home was, there's something intangibly satisfying about being near people that know you and love you. People that you ahve a shared history with. People who aren't always asking, whay are you here, what are you doing, what are your plans? I know that's all part of getting to knw people, but it can be really exhausting, and it was an immeasurable relief to be in familiar places, with familiar people. Even if there was way too much to catch up on in such a short amount of time!

I think the fact that I was sick and in bed for the last 5 days of my trip home definitely made it harder to come back. I physically felt like crap and that just seemed to make it easier to feel emotionally vulnerable. The last night at home I don't hink I slept too well - knowing what I was leaving behind, yet again.

But, now that I'm here, in the sun (!) and not sick anymore, it's easier to feel more optimistic about things. And I'm glad that I've signed on for 2 years. If I was only here for a year, i'd be thinking about going home soon. And I really still feel like I just got here. I've still got a year and a half to explore Oz, and maybe find more of myself along the way.

Back on the soccer field!

I played soccer this weekend - it was so great!



My co-worker Jenny plays on a casual team - it's basically 14-15 friends that get together and play 6 or 7 a side on Saturdays. It's super casual - the two team captains serve as refs, there are no lines on the field and penalties are called very rarely as everyone appears to be too polite for their own good... some of the other rules are that you can't tackle someone smaller than you (to protect the girls - a pet peeve of mine, to be honest) and goals that are shot over the keeper's head don't count. I personally think those rules are a bit ridiculous, but it's not my league, so I played along...

We played three 15 minute periods, and that was a good thing - 15 minutes was about what I could handle after being out of action for so long. (No pun intended!) :) It's definitely not Schmuck soccer - but it's always weird playing with a new set of people... it always takes a little while to figure everyone out and where you fit in. There was nothing epic in my playing, although I did have a beautiful assist - a graceful arcing ball (if I do say so myself) that was actually headed in! I was stoked, but quickly informed that it didn't count, sonce it was over the keeper's head. What?! But, as I said, it's someone else's league, so no complaints from me. This 'leauge' plays for the Professor Ovington Cup - a commerative plate that one of them found in a second-hand store a couple of years ago. The plate is engraved as the Professor Ovington Award - no one actually knows who Professor Ovington is, or what he taught - it's just a cool trophy to play for.

This is definitely not soccer like I'm used to - every little bit of contact with a girl stops the ball as people apologize and see if you are all right. One of my pet peeves in soccer... the game is meant to have a little bit of contact, if you can't handle it, get off the field! In the last period i was playing defense, my favorite, and ran into a guy and hit the ground, and everyone gasped and asked if I was okay. I was fine... it's not really a soccer game to me unless I hit the ground at some point. (Right Lee?) Anyway... it'll just take some getting used to I figure.

The people were really cool, and there were definitely more guys than girls (as usual on the soccer field), so I'm looking forward to getting to know the group. And as long as I get to run around a little bit I can't really be too fussed about silly rules. I may try to find another league to play in as well, now that I"ve played again, I can't get enough!

And - my knee didn't hurt. YAY!

Public Servant Barbie

I got this forward today from a colleague of mine... even though it's specific to OZ/Canberra, there are definitely parallels to the Atlanta...

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Public Servant Barbie

The Public Servant Barbie hits the shelves in the Capital every February in force, typically imported from other capital cities. PS Barbie initially comes attired in a snappy pant/suit number with strappy shoes and a vibrant can-do attitude. Shoppers are advised to get in early for a PS Barbie, however, as stock becomes hard to find and quality rapidly deteriorates. Previously enthusiastic well-dressed Barbies decline to a state of apathetic submission as the PS culture and Canberra winter takes hold, enforcing a regiment of sub-standard dress and gradual abandonment of any hope PS Barbie had of "making a difference". A typical PS Barbie conversation is likely to include expressions of frustration at the Canberra social scene and the reasons there are no good Ken dolls in Canberra. Unaccustomed shoppers may find the barrage of acronyms and PS "in-jokes" incomprehensible.

Finding a PS Barbie can be difficult at times owing to a combination of sick day, coffee break and "flex" related absences. Shoppers are best advised to try OPH of a Friday afternoon where PS Barbies congregate with the new PS Ken model. Ken comes attired in your choice of Treasury suit and tie or DAFF shorts, sandals and socks.

Casual Friday attire and Department logo coloured lanyard and security pass sold separately. PS Barbie will be more expensive on 1 July under the PS Barbie Certified Agreement, regardless of the performance of your doll, whether it turns up or does anything at all.

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Explanations for a few things:
OPH is the Old Parliament House - which is quite the scene on friday nights. It's mostly public servants (as is most of Canberra), mingling with $7 cocktails (usually they are $15), beer and wine. People are definitely dressed up for this - public servants outside of public health seem to actually have a sense of fashion and can actually be quite trendy. I"ve gone once so far and definitely had to think about what to wear so I"d feel comfortable!

Certified Agreements are the contracts under which all public servants work. They are re-negotiated regularly and are differnet for each Department. Our Department's CA is currently being negotiated, deadline is July.

DAFF is the Department of Forest and Fisheries - the hippies.

I'd be interested to see what they'd dress PS Barbie in - especially since winter is coming and I'm going to need tips - I"ve been in summer mode for almost the last year!

Insight from a swim?

I've been in Newcastle for the last 3 nights, for a work meeting. This afternoon, our meeting ended at 3pm and since I'd been sitting in a room staring at the waves crashing on Newcastle Beach all day, I had to get in. Additionally, I hadn't gotten in the water on Monday, which was a beautiful day, and Tuesday was super stormy and the beach was closed. So, I already had the hankering to get in the water. Now that I live in Canberra, where there is no ocean, I cannot be that close to the ocean and not get in. Once I figured out that "going for a swim" in the ocean was really just getting in the water and hanging out for a little while, not really swimming as in laps and full-on activity, I've really gotten used to just jumping in the ocean for a dip. It's just so great. (I really like that part of being over here). But, since I live in Canberra, which is not on the coast, I have to take advantage of the ocean when I'm there.

After the meeting today my co-worker Gerard and I changed into our suits (okay, our cossies, or togs, or whatever you may call them), and headed down to the water. I brought along an extra T-shirt as my towel since we'd checked out of the hotel already. Our flight was in an hour and a half - as I've learned, plenty of time in Oz to get in a quick swim before heading home.

There were flags up on the beach, indicating the area where it was safe to swim. This also means that there are lifeguards on the beach, watching and ready to help. Nw, others may feel comforted by the fact that there is someone watching them from afar. But, for me, especially when there's no-one else in the water - this makes me a little bit self-conscious. I'm just afraid the lifeguards are going to yell something through their loudspeaker thats directed at me and I won't know what they are saying and it'll be one huge 'lost in translation' moment where I'm in my bikini being stared at by everyone. (Any dream interpretations on that one??).

Anyway, it turns out that the reason there was no-one in the water was because, due to the storm yesterday, and the winds blowing from the northwest, the beach was full of bluebottles - stinging jellyfish. There were a ton of them washed up on the shore, little clear pods tinged with blue. On a couple of them, Gerard was able to point out the tentacles, aka the business end that stings like a mo-fo if you brush it. No wonder no-one was in the water. Gerard said we'd be okay, so we waded in a little ways - up to our knees. There were no blue bottles in the water, but it was super choppy, so I decided that we needed to go to the Ocean Baths instead. I really neeeded to GET in the water, but wasn't comfortable with the level of the surf and the potential of stinging jellyfish.

So, we walked over to the Ocean Baths. Most beaches in Oz have Ocean Baths - sheltered pools with sea water, right next to the ocean. The Newastle Ocean Baths are 2 pools - one large one for doing whatever, and one smaller one for doing laps. Gerard and I got in the larger pool and just swam around. After about 30 minutes, we decided to do some laps - make a little bit of a workout. So, we did a few big laps (we were in the big pool) of breast stroke, then decided to do some 'real swimming' - some freestyle (oh sorry, some Australian Crawl). [not my picture below - it's from the world wide web]



Now, I've mentioned on here my desire to start swimming, and that I, as yet, haven't found the gumption to actually do it. The next 5 minutes in the pool with Gerard illustrated some of my hesitations and self-made obstacles. We were in the middle of the large pool, towards the left side. We started off, and 3 strokes in, I couldnt see a thing, or breathe, because my hair was all in my face. I'd forgotten to put it back up in a pony-tail. Okay - first faux-paus. I stopped, Gerard stopped, and I put my hair up. Gerard loved this, as he's got a clean-shaven head. He just said I was lucky.

So, we set off again. The wall is not that far away - I take a look at it, put my head in the water, and away I go. I'm swimming, and it's good. After a while, I start thinking that I should be at the wall by now - my lungs are burning, it's time to stop. I keep trying to see where I am in comparison to the wall with each breath, but I don't want to stop to actually look. That would have been faux-paus number 2.

Now, it's maybe germane to note that there are a total of 5 other people in this large pool. None of whom are paying attention to me and my potential faux-paus behavior. And, I'm in Australia, where people don't really care anyway, so, really, I'm dealing with my own faux-paus fears. (I really like typing the word faux-paus. It's quite fun.)

So, I finally can't swim anymore and stop. I look up and realize that I am in the middle of the ool, in the complete opposite direction from the wall I was headed too - where Gerard is waiting for me, watching. (See, someone was watching). I realize that I've been swimming at a diagonal instead of a straight line, and I almost choke because I'm laughing so hard at myself. Literally - I snorted a whole bunch of ocean water... not pretty. Anyway, I head over to Gerard, doing the breast stroke, so I can see where I'm going this time, and just am cracking up by the time I get over to the wall, picturing myself, serious and dedicated to swimming - in the wrong direction.

Apparently, when we started swimming after I put my hair up, I completely cut Gerard off in my haste to go the wrong direction. He said he felt me swim in front of hime, but figured I was just adding some distance because, as he puts it, I'm "so super-fit".

Oy. I'm still laughing out loud at this image of myself, swimming into the middle of the pool, with dogged determination to look like I know what I'm doing.

The moral of this story - NO ONE is watching, NO ONE cares what I'm doing, and, even if I do stuff up, it's in my head, and all I have to do is stop, reasses, and get going in the right direction again. I'm so scared to look like I don't know what I'm doing, that it's been stopping me from taking the first step. But, hey, maybe I DON'T know what I'm doing. And that is okay. No-one knows how to do everything perfectly, and holding myself up to that standard is boring and too limiting.

A good lesson to have learned, and I'm still laughing at myself.

Home is where my head falls asleep

Well I'm back home.

Home.

Such a fluid term. I remember when I first moved to Atlanta and when I was talking to people, CA would be home, until I was actually IN CA, and then Atlanta would be home. But, when I was in Atlanta, CA would revert to being home. Same thing here... when I would talk to people about going home, I meant CA. But I also call Atlanta home. Then, when I was in CA, Canberra AND Atlanta were both home.

It's all just a state of mind, I guess. How about I just call home where my heart is? Somehow that seems to always be somewhere OTHER than where I am at the present moment. I think that's worth hearing again.

Suffice it to say, where ever I am can be home.

Which means I should get off my pouty pedastal and start acting like Canberra is home.