Adios, Abbott

Last night, Tony Abbott got ousted as Prime Minister, making Malcolm Turnbull the 5th Prime Minister that Australia has had in 5 years.

Tony Abbott sporting his famous budgie smugglers in happier times. 

Not only was Tony Abbott the PM, he was also the Minister for Women (self-appointed), so needless to say I'm feeling a bit lost without him.

Flat White

Typically I make my own coffee at home, but every now and then I like to order a fancier drink at a cafe on my way to work. When I do this I typically stick to cappuccinos, because I don’t want to waste $4 on a drink I don’t even like. Today I finally got around to trying one of Australia’s proudest inventions: the Flat White.

I’d always been curious to try this drink, but not really curious enough to deviate from cappuccinos or lattes. The name sounded kind of gross – I like foam, so why would I want to drink scalding, flat milk? It also didn’t help that I’d asked several Australian people to describe exactly what a flat white is, and they never really could give me a definitive answer. “It’s like a latte, but the foam is different”, “It’s sort of like a café au lait...I think?” and “It’s similar to a cappuccino, but stronger” are explanations I’ve heard over the last four years.

Having now tried one, I can say for certain: It’s a latte. It’s nice, but it’s just a latte.

One Million Dollars

There are many reasons why I’m excited to move back to America. Proximity to family and friends, craft beer, Mexican food, fast Internet and the rejection of the metric system are among them. But the news today that Sydney’s median home price is now over $1 million is one of the more compelling reasons!

Link to news article

Tennessee Hussy

Hayden is part of a syndicate that owns a horse with the unfortunate name of Tennessee Hussy. She was racing yesterday, so I decided to back her for $5 on the nose. In order to place this bet, I had to walk up the street to the TAB, which is a designated location in Australia where you can place a bet on sports, greyhounds or horses. At 2pm on a Thursday this establishment was full of men (I’ve never seen any women there) with varying levels of employment, and I got out as quickly as I could. I was happy I did in the end, because Tennessee Hussy won and I made a $20 profit! She even got her picture in the newspaper with a write-up about her jockey.

TH is the one with the pink jockey

Link to the article

Table Etiquette 101

There is something that has been persistently bothering me at every dinner party I have participated in since arriving in Australia. People here hold their fork in the left hand – prongs down – and cut their food with the knife in the right hand. Then they bring the food directly into their mouths with the fork in the left hand – again, prongs down at all times. I typically hold my fork like a pen in the left hand, and just frantically scoop food onto it with my knife. If I’m feeling real fancy, I’ll set the knife down and transfer the fork over to my right hand, but always with the prongs up.

I’ve always felt confident that I was raised with decent table manners, but this was starting to make me feel paranoid. I recently decided it warranted some further investigation, and it turns out there are two styles of fork etiquette: American and Continental. American style was described by Emily Post as ‘The Zigzag Method’, and it’s also known as ‘The Star-Spangled Fork Flip’, ‘Homeland Handover’ and ‘The Freedom Fork-over’. I’m very happy to know that I won’t have to retrain myself how to eat.

Home

Over the past couple of months I’ve been going through the process of applying for a Green Card for Hayden, and I can’t believe how transparent, efficient and straightforward the whole endeavour has been. OH WAIT. NO IT’S NOT! First was an application (entitled “Form DS 462-NA QPR” or some similar nonsense) that was sent to Chicago, on which I had to type our names and birthdays about 10 times. This was followed by the delightful “Affidavit 1040BZQ X215” that was mailed to a different address in New Hampshire, which included my tax return, proof of income and a sworn statement that Hayden won’t abuse food stamps or other government assistance. Today I’m filing what will hopefully be the last form, including passport photos and Hayden’s police background check. This will probably be pushed around a few desks before it gets processed.

I sometimes get frustrated and can’t help but think about how things would have been much easier if I had just taken an internship with Seattle Opera or Grand Teton Music Festival four years ago. In the midst of this whole mess, I came across an article that reminded me of why I think it’s worth it. It’s written by an Australian who has lived in America for several years – she explains the feeling better than I ever could: Link to article

Autumn

Fall is here (or Autumn, as they prefer to say in Australia), and I've been trying to find a few things to do with myself on the weekends since it's too cold to swim at the beach anymore. I took the train down to Kiama a few days ago to take a walk along the coastline, and spotted a sure sign that Autumn has officially arrived: an empty rock pool on a Saturday.

Rock pools are fairly common at the beaches around here. At high tide, the waves spill over the cement walls and refresh the pool water, and when the tide goes out (as in this photo) there is a really nice saltwater pool left with a view of the ocean. This time of year they look a bit lonely.