So..since I have been really horrible about getting on here and giving updates about what I've been doing, I thought I would write a quick posting of the activities I've been doing since I arrived.
So, here goes...
The trip from Sydney to Canberra (a 3 hour drive) was fairly uneventful. I saw my first glimpses of native wildlife though! ....in the form of a dead wombat and kangaroo on the side of the road. :(
I did get some glimpses of parrots and live kangaroos in the next couple days though, no worries!
The first week I was here was pretty low key...It took me a couple days to get adjusted to the time. I am currently 17 hours ahead of home in Iowa. Nick and Lucy (Chris's brother and his girlfriend) came over for dinner that very first night to see me. Uncle Chaz, whom I got to know the other two times I've been here came over for Sunday roast that weekend. Uncle Chaz is really just a very close family friend. Andy (Chris's dad) knows how to make a DELICIOUS roast. We had probably a little too much to drink that night too...there was champagne, white wine, red wine, and some sort of little desert wine called Muscat....like I said, a lot to drink.
Chris is playing on a baseball team here called the Bandits with his brother and a lot of his good friends. I've been going to every game if I can. They play 1 week night game and a game on Sunday afternoons. Lucy and I usually go and make up about 1/4 of the crowd during the week night games. Believe it or not...America's past time is not popular in the land down under, not at all. However, because it's not popular...everyone that plays is really, really good. On Chris's team in particular, everyone has been either signed in the MLB or has come to America to play college baseball. Chris has been doing amazing, playing short stop and pitching.
One week after I had been here, we had such a busy week!
On Monday night, I had my first go at playing rugby. I've seen some games played and even went to an Australia vs. South Africa game, but I have NEVER attempted to play. Nick and Lucy play on a coed social league on Monday nights and they needed some extra people, so Chris and I went. I should say first that it is spring here and it is not uncommon in spring for it to get up to 90 degrees during the day. That being said, this night was FREEZING!!! I was in just pants and a short sleeve t-shirt and it was unbearable....everyone wanted to be in the game just to warm up from running around. If you know me, you know I am fairly athletic, right??? Yeah, rugby is not really my thing...I was pretty sucky. I didn't really know the rules so I ended up just running around randomly and got the whistle blown on me a few times. I started to get it toward the end, but you know when you just aren't good and something so you just don't really like it? Yeah, that's me and rugby. :) However, it was good to get out there and meet some people. Nick and Lucy's friends were all really nice and I told them if they needed another sub sometime that I would gladly give it another try.
So that was Monday...On Tuesday, I spent the whole day at the mall interviewing with different retailers. (I'll get into the job search in a later post) After that, I walked to Nick and Lucy's house and went to the boys' game with Lucy. We only stuck around for 5 innings or so...the boys weren't playing too well. We later found out though that Chris pitched the last couple innings and won the game for them...just my luck. But anyway, Lucy and I went back to her place to watch this show (that I'm now hooked on called Packed to the Rafters) and have a glass of wine :)
The next day, Wednesday, I actually got a phone call at 9:30 in the morning when I was still in bed from a place called Kowalski Recruitment (not related to the grocery store for you Minnesotans reading) asking if I could come in and work reception for the day since there receptionist was sick. I had interviewed with them the week before and was hoping they could help me find a good job, so I jumped up, showered and went off to work. After working all day, we headed off to a delicious Indian restaurant called blue ginger for Nick's 26th birthday dinner with his and Lucy's family. It was really really fun with lots of good food, wine, and company. We didn't get home until after 11 so it was straight to bed. Especially because I had signed up to work at Kowalski again on Thursday and Friday.
Thursday was the only night of the week that we didn't have any plans, so we just did a lot of R&R. I was so tired from adjusting to working again. At this point, I had been off of work for pretty much a whole month.
Friday was off to work again and then I met up with Chris, Lorraine/Andy (Chris's mom and dad), and Nick/Lucy to see the Michael Jackson movie This Is It. Has anyone seen it??? SO GOOD! I was dancing and singing in my seat and all the way home :)
The weekend was really low-key which I was very grateful for...I was soooo tired after the busy week! On Sunday Andy, Lorraine, and I went to this little country town market and then to a winery before heading to Chris's baseball game. It was a very relaxing Sunday.
At the baseball game!
Enjoying some sparkling shiraz and dark chocolate at Gallagher Winery.
Well, that takes me up to this past week...the first week of November believe it or not! I had Monday off to just relax by myself and start this blog. Tuesday was a public holiday for (you American's will never believe this) the Melbourne Cup horse races. Australians get a paid holiday off of work for this day...UNBELIEVABLE! Anway, I'll write more about this past week and the Melbourne Cup day in a later posting.
Till then, thanks for reading!
xoxo
Amanda
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