Christmas in Australia

So Christmas came and went. The kids woke up Christmas morning to heaps and heaps of gifts. Declan was given a Green Machine, which I think the girls are enjoying even more than he is right now. The girls received loads of jewelry and a beautiful jewelry box to put it all in. Steve and Monique will be taking me to a show called Outback Spectacular in the next little why, I can`t wait. I`ve heard great things about it, including that you get a sweet hat, so you know it'll be good.

Christmas night was a flurry of rum ball making and choosing out which jewelery the girls wanted to wear. After much rushing and a lot of jewelry combinations the whole family took off to Monique`s place for dinner. There was food on food. Pork, chicken, potatoes, veggies, white christmas, rum balls, chocolate whip and much more. All of the children were given fart bombs, making the evening a very smelly one.

Boxing day was spent at the shops. The girls brought their fart bombs, Ashleigh walked past a huge crowd waiting in line to go in a store, she stomped on the bomb and pretty much ran away. Watching the faces of the people as they began to smell it was absolutely priceless!

That`s about it for my Christmas, oh but I gave Steve the movie Strange Brew for Christmas...possibly a bad idea...he won't stop talking in his version of a Canadian accent. I think Monique is the most frustrated with the accent haha.

So I left Christmas celebrations with a new bracelet and earrings, the N,Synch Christmas Cd, beautiful flowers, and a ticket to the Outback Spectacular. Pretty sweet. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Pre Christmas Confusion

Skating in Brisbane

As Christmas approaches I seem to have become more and more confused. It starts with the weather: It`s hot and there`s no snow! This of course has me confused as to whether or not it is really Christmas time. Nearly everyone I have talked to here has never experienced a white Christmas with snow, but I guess I`ve never had a non-white Christmas.

Secondly....

I'm not with my family. (Thankfully the family I'm working for is marvelous and is making me a part of their Christmas)

Third...

I already had Christmas back home.

Four...

I spent yesterday on the beach (ok, I guess that's part of the weather thing as well)

Fifth...

I have another killer sunburn (yes, no need to tell me to put more sunscreen on it doesn`t help after you`ve already splooshed it on an inch thick, all I can do is wear my sun shirt)

Anyway, how this all started... while I was walking down the streets looking at the lights with Ashleigh tonight I found myself confused... I'm wearing shorts and sandals while I walk down the street in the rain looking at Christmas lights...utter uncertainty. What is this? What's going on?

Maybe it'll start to feel like Christmas on Saturday.

Love,

emilie

p.s. I sat on Santa's knee the other day and I'll post a picture soon. I never knew until then that Santa had an Aussie accent.

the first 2 weeks

First of all I must comment on the weather here. It`s been pretty rainy overall and everyone here is quite upset about it. I of course am not disappointed at all. I get to wear shorts in December, so I really can`t complain.

For those who have not yet heard from me...

All is going quite well. The family has been very welcoming and I am getting along great with them. Maddison and Ashleigh are ten years old and currently on summer/Christmas holidays. This means that we have spent many days at local theme parks (Movie World, Wet N Wild, and Sea World). The girls are great at finding their way around, thanks goodness since when I first got here I had no idea who to get around (I`d like to say that after two weeks I can now successfully drive to and from a multitude of places in the area).

The girls are currently at their mother`s, giving me some free time this week. So I`ve taken advantage of this time to do a bit of local sight seeing and to meet people.

I spent Wednesday morning and afternoon playing in the waves on the main beach on the Gold Coast, I also got to lounge in my new found friend`s (and a few of her girlfriends) apartment overlooking the beach.

Thursday got a chance to see a small show at Ric`s bar in The Valley (a hip part of Brisbane). After I attended an American themed dinner where we had burgers, chicken wings, yac sick, and biscuits and gravy. The yac sick looked exactly how it sounds, but at least it tasted better. I have been informed that the next theme dinner will be Canadian in honor of me.

I spent the day exploring Mount Cootha and the botanical gardens near by. At the top of Mount Cootha I experienced a beautiful panorama of Brisbane and it`s suburbs. I got terribly lost on the drive home, but it ended up being great since I then found this great 2nd hand Oggie`s style shop. I only hope that I`ll be able to find it again next time.

That`s my life down under so far...