Like the 4th of July...but not.

On 26 January, Australians celebrate Australia Day! Now, I pretty much lied to high school kids about a month ago when I said "Everyone gets dressed up on the Australian National Colours hand celebrates a day full of Australian pride" because no one (except me) wore Green and Gold. Though there was plenty of flag colours - blue, red, and white (see how I kept thinking about July 4th?).

My flatmate said it would be fun to have a picnic (sort of like a 4th of July picnic...) in the park near our house. I invited everyone I knew in Sydney and only a couple showed up. But thank goodness Pete's cool and many of his work co-workers came out to partake. It was a overcast day - so we spread a big blanket out under a shady tree and put cheese, crackers, chicken, chips and dip, rock melon (err...cantalope), pinapple, and watermelon slices (again...the spread just begged for 4th of July references). But nothing compared to Pete's awesome Lamington cupcakes. Now, Lamtingtons are not supposed to come in cupcake form, but sometimes we improvise we we don't have the right pans in our house. It was my first taste of Lamingtons and boy are they yummy! Check out Claire and Ash sharing a Lamington above.

After nibbling on everything, Richard pulled out his cricket set - and we all took a turn at bat (is it 'at bat' in cricket?). I was impressed with my two hits! But everyone else was much better at bowling, fielding, and hitting. It made me want to play again...unfortunately, my legs starting stinging while I was out on the field. As I made my way back to the shade of the tree, I realized my thighs were a bright shade of pink.

It wasn't until I started applying suncream, that I remembered I had let my friends write "AUSSIE" in green and gold zinc down my right arm. Guess I'll know better for next time!

That night and the next day, my legs ripened to the brightest pink colour I have ever seen after sun. Four days of constant application of aloe has resulted in tannish-pink sink that might begin peeling at any minute. On one hand, my legs are no longer white. On the other, I just doubled my chances for skin cancer...oh and have this amazing shorts line...don't think that's going away for the next few years.

BDO

I'm pretty sure I lied to all my Australian Friends. I could have sworn that I've been to a music festival before - and I have! I've been to Northgate Music Festival...in College Station, TX. It books TX or local bands trying to make it on the scene to play a variety of different venues over 3 day/nights. However, I learned that it doesn't compare to the likes of Lollapalooza, Lilthfair, Warped Tour, and the like...but Big Day Out (BDO) does!

I can't say I knew much of the music - maybe 2 songs each band played, if I was lucky. But, every band played GOOD music...so an excellent day was had by all! Unfortunately, it was HOOOT. The best way I can explain this...I drank 4 bottles of water, 1 bottle of coke, and 3 slushies throughout the 10 hours I was at BDO and only used the toilet once - not to mention the misters we walked under or water we poured over our heads to keep cool...As you can see to the left, the girls (Claire, Jess, and Ash) and I made shirts just for BDO 09. It was fun to see different costumes (Dino Flintstone), outfits (twinkies in black shorts and green leafy wrap around tattoos on the left thigh), or matching shirts (Australian Flag shirts, Bintang Bali Beer shirts, etc.). The best was the group of 10 guys who dressed up as Where's Wally? (think Where's Waldo then be Australian).

When we got super tired, we headed up to the grandstand at the main stage to have a bit of a rest. Since I was running around with my friend from Bateman's Bay, I got to meet so many people from their hometown. At right, top row - Justin, two guys I don't remember their names; bottom row - Claire, Me, Elle.

In full festival spirit, I searched out a corny dog...only in Oz they call them Dagwood Dogs. AND they do the neatest trick...instead of putting out pump bottles of ketchup, they will dip your dog in a vat of ketchup (err...tomato sauce) covering it with yummy sauce all the way around. No need to pump, dip, or mess!

OK, on to the bands...the whole point of the day. I got to see Neil Young (I wish I could have been more excited about him but it was 9:40 pm when he went on and I was thinking more about a cold bath and my bed than the fact that I didn't like him leading with his rock set and would have preferred he played more folk songs). I caught a couple songs by The Ting Tings including their big song (That's Not My Name...or whatever the real title is). The Greats and Birds of Tokyo were amazing as well. But the BESTEST band of the day was by far - The Living End! The music was fun, got me dancing a bit, and I knew a two songs. Plus, the band itself puts on a great live show...including the upright bass player (Em - I could only imagine how much you would have loved to see them) standing on his instrument to play and then jump off...see right.

It definitely was worth taking a day off work to have this BIG DAY OUT!

My mom is going to kill me for this...

I have so much work to do this week because I am taking the day off on Friday. But I finally got pictures downloaded from my camera and I had to put some up!!!


How random is this?!? We were walking around downtown on a FREEZING cold night when we came upon a crew of carols...they wanted to sing "Let It Snow" so we obliged, and joined in a bit. Thankfully, Darah snapped this catchy picture so that we could remember the host of "The Nightie Before Christmas" Party - where you dress up in your Christmas PJs and carol around downtown Dallas.


Note1: He is wearing a Christmas Tree Sumbrero
Note2: He is wearing Christmas Bulb sunglasses
Note3: He is wearing gold wings...



While I was home, I found out that there are places in Texas where you can smoke indoors and drink 'tea' out of mugs. Yes, they allowed us to BYO beer...but then hide it away and brought it out in coffee mugs. Why? Why must we act like underage celebrities in LA nightclubs? I am neight underage nor in LA (celebrity status is still up in the air, ha). At least the mug was large enough to hold all 12 ounces of my Texas beer!



Did I only wear one shirt while I was home...goodness there are tons of photos of me in this totally awesome Down Under tee! But notice the hosts of the housewarming party - Katie and Paul - cleverly coordinated Christmas colors to be in the spirit of the season.



Katie and Paul have a lovely new home...hopefully, the damage from the fire has been repaired (no, I did not start the fire...I swear...ask Paul if you don't believe me!).



So, this is why my mom's going to kill me. But I can't pass up posting THE only photo of me and mom while I was home. Yes, we had just had lunch at Chipotle...but still it's me and my momma! It was so great to be home with family for the holidays. It has been so long since I had seen everyone and I am so glad I got to catch up with at least a few people in the middle of craziness called Christmas/New Year's Eve. Let me know if you got pics of me over the break because I would LOVE to see them!

Sleeps...

I pass a supermarket each morning when I exit the train station for work. As I walk by, I think of the photo I wanted to take but didn't get to before the sign was stolen...

In Australia, there's this phrase people use to talk about how excited they are about an upcoming event, trip, or holiday. It reminds me of being a little kid and not being able to fall asleep because I'm so excited about something.

The first time I heard it was on the way to surf camp when speaking with one of the instructors he told me he was going surfing in Bali soon..."Seven sleeps until Bali!"

I heard it several other times around the office or through friends...but I didn't realize the extent of the phrase until I saw a sign outside the supermarket that was a countdown...

"20 Sleeps Until Christmas!"

Each day they tore off a number...until some little hooligan stole the sign :( How was I to know how many sleeps until Christmas?!? Guess everyone else figured it out...

Back in Oz!

If you're reading this, you're received my Christmas card and had to come find out if I really had a blog - or if I had updated it lately. Well, here I am...updating my blog!

I'm back in Oz. I arrived yesterday morning at 7:50 am (the plane was on-time!). After whizzing through immigration, baggage collections, and customs, I spent 10 minutes in line for a taxi. Now 10 minutes may not seem long to any American, but the peeps over here think that is a LONG time to spend in any queue.

The taxi got me home safe and sound. After a quick run through the shower, I headed off to work - yes, I went to work all day after traveling for 17+ hours! The jet lag wasn't too bad (although I reread some emails I sent out yesterday and now know I wasn't on my A game).

Still trying to unpack, get moved into my new room (taking over the 'middle-sized' room since my flatmate, Jesse, left us for Paris), and fall back into the swing of things...oh and finish watching all episodes of How I Met Your Mother...