Australian Adventures in York

An accout of my last few days overseas…

Mum and I had an interesting few days in Paris. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do too much sightseeing because both Mum and I caught a stomach bug. Poor Mum was throwing up on the train from London to Paris and was in bed sick for a couple of days. I was feeling really rotten but luckily managed to escape the being sick part of it, which was good we had all of those bags to lug around! We got to Paris on the Thursday night and spent all of Friday and Friday night in Haleh’s apartment feeling sorry for ourselves, but we were lucky that Liz was able to look after us.

On Saturday we walked around Paris and went to the Musée d’Orsay and just walked around looking at things. On Sunday we didn’t get to do much as we were busy cleaning up the apartment ready to leave first thing the next morning.

Mum and I were on the 9am train to London so said out goodbyes to Liz and headed to the train station. We got there ridiculously early, but that turned out to be a good thing because something had obviously gone wrong with the checking-in system and there was a line as wide as possible, all the way back to the escalators. We lined up for 2 hours and ended us going straight from check in onto the train.

We got into London at about 11am and checked into our hotel before heading to South Bank for some lunch. Then it was back to the hotel for a shower and in a bus to the airport. My bag was 27kg and Mum’s was 22kg (about 7kg of that was my stuff) and the lovely check-in lady said that there was a 5kg discretion per person (the limit is 20kg) and let us check it all in without having to pay for it! We also got exit row seats all the way through to Melbourne! Someone was looking down on me from up above – I didn’t think that that would happen. We still had 4 hours until the plane left, so we had a drink, then a look through the shops, then some dinner and before we knew what was happening we were on the plane ready for a 12 hour flight to Singapore.

We had about an hour in Singapore before we had to get back on the plane so Mum took me to the spa there and I got a back and neck massage (I was so sore from the flight and the thought of two more flights was horrible!) while she took a shower. We had a quick look around the shops there and then were back on the plane. It was only 8 hours to Melbourne but when we got there we found out that our flight to Adelaide was cancelled. There was a flight at 8:10 (it was 7:30 when we got in) and no other flights listed before midday. We were so so so lucky again and managed to get the last 2 seats on the 8:10 flight and almost had to run from security to our gate.

We were greeted at the airport by my Dad, sister Amy, mum’s sister Jen and my friend Cat. We all went back to the house for a cuppa and once everyone left I showered then headed down to the Bay (a shopping street by the beach) with Amy to get some summer clothes for me and to get my hair cut. I now have really short hair (pictures on Facebook). Shorter than I expected, but it’s alright I guess.

So this is a quick note to say that I am completely and utterly behind with all forms of communcation.  I have no credit on my phone (and with 12 hours left in the country, I’m not topping it up) and very very lttle opportunity to get on the internet and reply to emails and the like.  It has got to the point where I am snowballed with text messages, emails, Facebook messages, Bebo messages (wow, I’m sounding popular at the moment) etc. that I don’t know where to begin.  There are so many things that I want to say to everyone and it doesn’t seem fair to write some of them and not others.

I just got back from my leaving dinner in York.  Mum and I are on the 12:30 train to Paris in the morning then head back to London on Monday to fly home.  It’s all a whirl-wind of chaos at the moment … and I still have to pack!

So I’m afraid that all of the thank you emails and replies will have to wait for a later date (realistically, when I am back in Adelaide next week).

xoxo

So I just found out that my last basketball game for York Uni is today.  We’re playing an away game against Knaresborough and, basically, if we win we’ve won the league.  If we lose, we’ll come 2nd in the league (they don’t play finals over here for this).

I was supposed to play my last game when I get back from Ireland, but it’s my last night in York and we wanted to have a family dinner.  Since that’s another away game, we couldn’t do dinner.  I was talking to my coach about it and since neither of us could remember if last time we played TASC it was close, we decided that it wasn’t worth me playing if it we won by lots the last time.  Dom just checked the score sheets and we won by lots.  So it looks like today is my last game.

We’ve already played 2 games in the last 2 days, so we will all be more tired than the other team.  Last time we played them we only won by 3.  We can’t lose today – we must win.

It’s really sad, thinking that this is going to be my last game.  As much as I love the girls at the Flinders team, this has been a very different basketball experience.  They take things a little more serious (we train three times a week) but the standard is a little lower – more different than lower I guess.  Dom just messaged me saying “I’m just pleased you’ve been able to play as much as you have done, and really pleased how much you’ve done for the club off the court – driving, rearranging flights etc.”

It’s made me want to play the last game against TASC – mostly because I don’t want this to end.  But I think that I want to play is because I don’t want to leave before the end of the season and playing next week won’t change that.

Anyway, here are some photos from yesterday’s game:

^ Sarah getting a rebound, #10 is Brigit

^ Emma on the drive with me posting up

^ An awesome post pass into me!
And some photos from when we went out for Chinese after the game for part 1 of my farewell:

^ Naomi and Brigit

^ Manola and Naomi

^ Conor, Nick and JP

^ Me, Hollie and Manola

What is going on?  I can’t even tell if anyone is actually reading this because the stat machine isn’t working at the moment.

So it’s after 10:30 and I should be asleep.  But tomorrow is my last day looking after the kids and so I’m moving out tomorrow night.  The stresses of packing aside, it’s more than a little daunting that, as of tomorrow, not only will I have no job but I will also kind of have no home until I get back to Australia.  I’ll be Miss ‘Living Out of Suitcases’ again and I really really hate that.

Everything has hit me all at once.  I feel the same way right now as I did the night before I left Australia and I can’t understand it.  You see, I had a reason to be apprehensive when I was moving over here – I don’t have one now.

I have managed to pack everything into my big suitcase and a smaller sportsbag.  I’m really proud!  I still have a fair amount of stuff (eg 11 pairs of jeans…) but given I’ve been overseas for 18 months, it’s not bad.

Oh.

My.

God!

EIGHTEEN MONTHS!

I should be pretty proud about that!

What a great year-and-a-half!

So today at about midday I realised that one of my four earrings was missing.

I was really annoyed because I immediately realised that since I had been up since 6am, and out-and-about since 7:30am, there was no way I was going to find it.  I took out the other earring on the other ear to balance things up again and began contemplating purchasing new earrings, which I quickly decided was out of the question since I will be unemployed in approximately 24 hours and would much prefer spending my remaining money on Magners in Derry next week.

I got home at 4pm and found it on the floor in my room!

SCORE!

I had to go online and book my dairy-free meal and saw what movies I get to watch on my way home!

I’m especially excited that I get to watch The Nanny Diaries (especially as I will be able to look back at my time here and laugh [hopefully]).  There’s also Atonement, which I haven’t seen yet.  There’s also the Bee Movie (yay!  Haven’t seen that either!)  There’s also Michael Clayton (can’t beat a law movie to motivate me to go back to uni).  Then there’s Ratatouille which I did see at Elishia’s house at Christmas, but fell asleep at the end…  There’s also The December Boys and The Heartbreak Kid…  Wow!  This may actually be an interesting flight!

20 days in the northern hemisphere.
33 hours of work.
22 days until I get home.

Packing sucks.  I don’t have that much stuff, really, especially since I have been here for 18 months, but it’s daunting thinking of getting all of my stuff together, moving it to Maurice and Haleh’s house, then to Paris, then to London, then home.  Even with my Mum helping for the last legs, that’s a lot of moving!

This time next week I’ll be in Derry.  Probably (hopefully) at a pub, or at least on our way to a pub.

This time in 2 weeks I’ll be just getting back to York and I WILL BE WITH MY MUM!!!

This time in 3 weeks I’ll be on the tube on the way to Heathrow.

Actually, I think that I am the lucky one because I had so much fun looking after the kids today!  That’s why I’m making this post – so I must be the lucky one.

But, the day started off pretty badly.  The high winds are back and they brought rain with them this time.  So, when I left the house at 7:30am this morning to take the kids to school, I was not impressed that their Mum left the two big kids’ car seats in the front of the car.  It meant that I had to get drenched in the rain while I moved them into the back and strapped them in.  Now, here’s a tip if you move to the UK:

1) It rains.
2) A lot.
3) Not as much in England as in Ireland, but still a LOT more than it does in Australia.
4) BUY A WATERPROOF JACKET WHEN YOU GET HERE.  Don’t be like me and half way through your trip realise that a waterproof jacket would have been a good idea, but it’s too late to get one considering that you would never need it in Australia.  I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT ONE ANYWAY!!!

Anyway, I must continue my rant.  I got to the point where I really couldn’t get any wetter and since we were late already, I didn’t have time to chance.  I did manage to get wetter ferrying the kids and their bags etc to the car.

Wouldn’t you know, the minute that I finish the last school drop off (they go to different schools) the rain goes from, as the English say, “Chucking it down” to COMPLETELY STOPPED!!!  WTF?  Is God watching me or something?

Bbbuuuttt, get this!  I pciked Thomas up from school (and for the first time in a long time, he’s really excited to see me and runs up with a big hug for me!) but as we’re driving to the other school it starts raining, then hailling, then sleeting then SNOWING!  It was crazy to drve in, but pretty cool.

I had the best day with the kids today and all I could think was “This time next week I’ll be moving out…”  I was talking to the kids about me going back to Australia and a new nanny coming.  Thomas has his brthday soon (but it’s after I leave) and he kept saying “But you can come to my party.  You’ll come back for my birthday, won’t you?” and when I explained that Australia is too far away, the kids kept saying “But you can get a plane and come and see us when you come back to see your family here”.  It’s hard for them to get their head around long flights (that cost a lot of money!)  It’s really sweet that they don’t want me to go, but heart breaking at the same time!

^ Snow in the village

^ Snow in the village

^  Snow in the backyard

^  The pond was obviously too cold for the ducks, so they were standing on the road in the middle of the village and simply wouldn’t move.  After about 6 cars had piled up someone got out of their car and had to shoo them off the road!

Liz sent me this and it made me realise how long I’ve been away!

On Australia day you probably wanted to party, celebrating all the things that make us unique. But how do you tell if you are a true Aussie? Here are 43 top ways to tell if you’re a local.
You know you’re Australian if …
1. You know the meaning of the word “girt”.
2. You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.
I don’t think that I’ve heard the word ‘stubby’ even once in the last 18 months…
3. You think it’s normal to have a leader called Kevin.
I haven’t met any Kevin’s over here…
4. You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expired petrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.
Petrol vouchers?  No such thing over here!
5. You’ve made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden.
No one outside Australia will get that one!!!  Haha!!!  I’m making the most of not feeling guilty about taking a long shower during my last weeks here.
6. You believe it is appropriate to put a rubber in your son’s pencil case when he first attends school.
7. When you hear that an American “roots for his team” you wonder how often and with whom.
I’ve lived with and spend too much time with Americans.
8. You understand that the phrase “a group of women wearing black thongs” refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.
I’ve been away so long that the word ‘thong’ sounds dirty to me.  As does ‘pants’
9. You pronounce Melbourne as “Mel-bin”.
Hell yeah!
10. You pronounce Penrith as “Pen-riff”.
11. You believe the “l” in the word “Australia” is optional.
12. You can translate: “Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas.”
13. You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.
14. You call your best friend “a total bastard” but someone you really, truly despise is just “a bit of a bastard”.
15. You think “Woolloomooloo” is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.
16. You’re secretly proud of our killer wildlife.
17. You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that’s twice as big as its $2 coin.
Hell yeah!  And I can’t wait to get rid of these stupid coppers – it’s going to be strange without them when I get home though.
18. You understand that “Wagga Wagga” can be abbreviated to “Wagga” but “Woy Woy” can’t be called “Woy”.
19. You believe that cooked-down axlegrease makes a good breakfast spread.
20. You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis.
21. Hamburger. Beetroot. Of course.
22. You know that certain words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels’ song Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again.
23. You believe, as an article of faith, that the confectionary known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year.
Oh!  Wagon Wheels!  I miss those!
24. You still don’t get why the “Labor” in “Australian Labor Party” is not spelt with a “u”.
25. You wear ugh boots outside the house.
I left mine at home…  I wish that I bought them with me here – they would have been great to have!
26. You believe, as an article of faith, that every important discovery in the world was made by an Australian but then sold off to the Yanks for a pittance.
27. You believe that the more you shorten someone’s name the more you like them.
28. Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.
29. You understand that “excuse me” can sound rude, while “scuse me” is always polite.
That made me realise that I always drop the ‘e’ of excuse me!
30. You know what it’s like to swallow a fly, on occasion via your nose.
That brings back bad memories of my Year 2 sports day.
31. You understand that “you” has a plural and that it’s “youse”.
That, I can’t stand.  Sorry!
32. You know it’s not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.
Wow!  I haven’t had that happen to me for well over 2 years…  I can’t wait for my steering wheel to be too hot to handle!
33. Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules for beach cricket.
Or backyard cricket…
34. You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call “Anzac cookies”.
That is one thing that I have brought over to the UK – everoyne is asking for the recipe now!
35. You still think of Kylie as “that girl off Neighbours”.
And you watch Home and Away to fend off home sickness…  Oh!  Did I just admit to that?
36. When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs – just in case you’re trying to sneak in fruit.
Haha!  Oh how I look forward to coming home!
37. You believe the phrase “smart casual” refers to a pair of black tracky-daks, suitably laundered.
Oh yeah, can’t wait to get home and have people understand what I mean by ‘trackys’
38. You understand that all train timetables are works of fiction.
39. When working on a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer.
40. You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second.
Heehee!
41. You find yourself ignorant of nearly all the facts deemed essential in the government’s new test for migrants.
42. You know, whatever the tourist books say, that no one says “cobber”.
Or Bruce.  Or Sheila.
43. And you will immediately forward this list to other Australians, here and overseas, realising that only they will understand.
And people of other nationaities who celebrated Australia Day with you, just to show them was a great country Australia is.  They may even come and visit!!!

Happy Australia Day.