DISGUSTING?!

Australians. Crack. Me. Up. They're known for being one of the most laid back countries, in fact, this reputation precedes them globally. They, in theory, shouldn't ever worry about anything. There motto is "No worries, mate."

But, the truth is, it's true, they don't freak out about the big stuff. You know, life decisions and the like...things that a person SHOULD freak out about, they have a very laxadazical (sp?) attitude about. But, about STUPID things, they freak out. Today, in my pinot seminar, the woman sitting next to me was being a real irritable kid all day. When one of the last speakers was speaking, the poor old guy didn't have his presentation loaded onto the screen. So, they had to go get one of the Conference Centre tech guys to load it. In the meantime, he started talking about what he had researched. This lady next to me started like chucking all of her stuff into her bag and start talking REALLY loudly about how "disgusting" this was. Disgusting!? DISGUSTING!? That's not exactly the word that I would use for it.

So, we Americans freak out about everything, but, probably not about the poor man loading his PPT presentation. Who's better off? I can tell you who's funnier, that's for sure!

Cheers

Opa!

A week or so ago now, I went home with one of my favorite Australians, Marissa, to stay with her family for a few nights after our biochem final finished. The plan was to go "to the snow" so that she and her sister could do some skiing. I don't ski (obvi), but I went along really just to prove to myself that there was snow in Australia. (There is, really.)

In any case, it was nice to be with a family again. Twentysomethings make a nice temporary family, but there's something comforting about being around someone else's Mom and Dad, Aunts and Uncles, Grandparents that makes you feel, in a strange way, closer to your own. Marissa's grandfather, whom they call Opa, so that is what I know him as, is quite possibly the cutest Australian I've seen! He's an older guy, and he lives in White Cliffs, NSW. White Cliffs is about as outback as it gets. As Marissa explained it to me, they don't actually have a hospital or doctors there, the doctors fly in once a week. (Strange concept for an industrialized nation, no?) What happens mostly in White Cliffs is opal mining. The above photo is a picture of the opal mines taken from the air. (I have a postcard if you want to see.) It gets up to 50 degrees C (well over 100 F) in here in the summer time, "in the shade!", according to Opa. Opa never wears anything on his feet but thongs, and he is wrinkly and sunburned all the time because of the heat. He's not fussed by the heat at all, he said, he reckons that it doesn't really matter to him how hot it is (!). In Albury, where I was, he was most uncomfortable because he had to wear a shirt, socks, and shoes on account of the cold. He had even fallen ill when he was in the cold, poor guy. He was born in Germany, but came to Australia over 50 yrs ago as a tradesmen, and now mines opals as a retirement project (?!). He had this special German liquor made from distilled hot peppers (don't remember what it was called), but he calls it his cold medicine. I had a bit of a cough at the time as well, so he suggested that I try it as well. It was good stuff, and it did take away my cough with just one shot! He was really remarkable. I got an invite to go up to White Cliffs and mine opals with him along with an opal to take home with me, and I fully intend on taking him up on it.

This may well be my last entry from Australia, but I hope it's not. I'm currently in Adelaide at the Australian Wine Industre Technical Conference enjoying my last week in Oz. I am essentially homeless, as I have vacated my room in Wagga and my bags are living at Marissa and Declan's place. Homeless! I am taking a night off from the pub tonight, I'll let my winery boys handle that tonight. Good conference so far...lots of wine dorks in one place. :-P

Anyway, I'm nearly out of internet credit, so I will be heading.

Cheers

Speaker used this quote today, really liked it:

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"

--Mary Oliver, the summer day

Old Man

He's mad at me in this picture! Hehe!

I am VERY sorry that I haven't been in blog touch lately. I have been a bit busy with residential schools (they really SUCK, btw) and I just haven't felt like blogging lately. I know I'll kick myself for not blogging the past month as I am less than a month from leaving, but, I often kick myself for less.

For those of you who were unaware, my Casey, my old man and very best friend, died in late June. I got the call from Mom on a Saturday night here while I was in Sydney. It's been a rough few weeks for me, and it will be even rougher when I get home and realize that my bestest bud isn't there to greet me. My house and room and bed and sweater drawer will have an strange emptiness to them, I know it all ready. I'm sure he's happier, he's in better place where he can be young and vibrant, and it's assured that I wont dress him in my doll clothes, put him in my baby buggy, and wheel him up to grandmas. I can't believe he'll never look up at me again or rub his cold wet nose on my hand in search of a pet. I feel monsterously guilty for not being there with him, especially considering that he was there for me every time I cried for, oh, about 17 years, and I went off, knowing damn well that he'd need me in his darkest hour while I was away. I can't believe I wasn't there for him. Good thing Mom was. I hope he knew that I still loved him.

Other than that, life as been moving on at a pretty average pace. I had an outstanding birthday, made that way by a few people that I didn't know really cared! I really couldn't have asked for more, especially considering that I was expecting to spend the day alone.

Other than that, I've been doing res schools. The first was 6 days of straight tasting. Which sounds glamourous, but it's actually not as glam as you would think. This may sound completely ridiculous, but it reasonably difficult to taste that much wine in a day. Your senses just tire, and you get sick of it. I know I know, my life is clearly hard. I got to taste wine for 8 hrs a day for 6 days straight. Now, the fates are repaying me, and I'm doing 8 hr blocks of biochemistry labs. You cannot deny that THAT doesn't sound fun.

But, I return to the states in just over 2 weeks. I am having incredibly mixed emotions about it. I am excited to see the people that I miss and love, but I feel like I'm leaving something incredible behind. Didn't I just feel like this?!

Well, Alison, there you have it. I hope I have entertained you for a few moments. :-)

Cheers
Catrina

Bird Brain with Pics

Bird Mania:



Clearly, lots of birds.

It was this lady's idea!

Yes, Hello. Notice the crumbs on my shoulder. Very nice.


Christy is clearly scared. I gave her a scotch biscuit and she gave the whole damn thing to one lucky bird.


I was watching all of the others. Clearly I was disturbing this one's snack. Christy has the pictures of the ones hanging out on my back pocket. So, when she rattles her dags and sends those along, I will post them.

Cheers