Doggy do to you

I'm not sure about the rest of Australia but people in Adelaide have services provided at their home.

Most people have someone take care of their yard, domiciliary care is more popular than senior’s lodges, massage therapists and hair dressers come to you, and even pooches get the royal treatment.

Speak like a (South) Australian in 10 Easy Steps

Step 1: Put on your best British accent

Step 2: Take away the r when it follows a vowel in the middle of a word e.g. art becomes awt and performance becomes pefomance.

Step 3: Add those r’s to the end of words that end in ‘a’ like Canadr and Cynthir.

Step 4: Take out the ‘t’ in the numbers 13 – 19.

Step 5: Replace the ‘hard’ o sound with ‘oi’. No = noi, so = soy etc.

Step 6: Replace the ‘ou’ sound with ‘ew’, you sounds like yew and exagerate the w.

Step 7: Add ‘Awwwww’ or ‘Yeaaaaaa’ to the beginning of most sentences.

Step 8: Replace ‘I think’ or ‘I feel’ with ‘I reckon’.

Step 9: Greet people with Haw yar gawin? or Good eye might.

Step 10: Hold your nose through steps 1- 9. (Aussies sound nasal due to all the pollen here.)

More Aussie slang

Gob smacked = shocked

Stuffed = dead

Ute = SUV

Tats = tattoos

Lolly = candy

Sunnies = sunglasses

Mosies = mosquitos (yes they’re here unfortunately!)

Chooks = chickens (live not cooked)

Tassie =Tasmania

Brisie = Brisbane

Adelaide = Adelaide

Go figure!?

ANZAC Day

Today was a National holiday commemorating the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). Similar to Remembrance Day there were services and wreath laying, albeit outside and at dawn, all over Australia. This was followed later in the day by military parades.

April 25th was the date, in 1915, that the Australians landed at Gallipoli. By the end of the war they'd suffered the loss of 60,000 men, huge for a country of few people. All were volunteers. There is still a feeling of loss and betrayal by the English who directed them into battle.

People wear Rosemary on their lapels instead of poppies. Since ancient times this aromatic herb is believed to improve memory. Perhaps because of this, rosemary became an emblem of both fidelity and remembrance in literature and folklore. Rosemary has particular significance for Australians, as it is found growing wild on the Gallipoli peninsula.

I went to school - it was quiet and I got a lot done.

Politics

Well the Alberta election results are in. Although the Conservative party retained their majority, as I reviewed the polls they just squeaked by the extreme right-wing Wildrose Party in most rural ridings. Many people voted PC to stop the homophobic, anti-environment, privatizing mantra of the Wildrose, which gained 17 seats and will form the official opposition.

A week ago, the Harper government closed the Public Health Agency of Canada office in Alberta, with many friends and colleagues losing jobs. I hear the CBC is on the chopping block as are thousands of positions and programs. And now I can’t retire until I’m 67!

I’ve been feeling like someone who leaves their community to find it's been devastated by some natural disaster leaving nothing to return to. My values of equity and empowerment and social justice don’t align with Harper or the provincial conservatives, who may have stayed centrist with a Liberal or NDP opposition, but will now need to pander to a 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps', libertarian agenda.

So do I stay here? Australia moved from a socialist to a capitalist model in the 90’s, about 10 years ahead of Canada, and the outcome is an underbelly of poverty and a culture of disillusionment.

This is not the way we want to go.

I will come home but may need to find work in social democratic provinces like Manitoba or Quebec. At least we still have some pockets of progressiveness!

Living in a temperate not a tropical climate

It was cooler here than in Edmonton today. As I cycled to work this morning the Antartic wind was blowing red and yellow leaves all over the road. The high was only 17°C. Edmonton hit 18°C.

There feel better?

A trip to the country

Deb keeps her horse about 30 minutes outside of Adelaide in the hills. I saw some of the signs from yesterday’s blog on the road as we passed wineries, quaint villages, traditional homes, pine and gum forests, ocean glimpses, horses, cattle, wallabies and even a turtle crossing the road on the way to McLaren Vale.

I enjoyed a nice quiet walk in the woods. With every step I took Monarch butterflies alighted all around me. I've heard that is a sign of a healthy place. Here are some of the images I captured.

Road signs - only in Australia

My lonely umbrella

It has rained three times since I have been here. Now when it rains it pours, but three times is not much when the average daytime temperature is in the high 20s. But who's complaining! I watched the sun set at the beach again today.

Scary!

I’ve been sleeping relatively well. However, being alone in the house this week the creeks became noticeable.

I awoke this morning at 4:30 to a strange hissing sound. I sat up and listened and no, it was not my imagination, there definitely was an eerie noise outside my window. I can’t say what it sounded like as I’ve never heard this sound before, only to say that it was spooky. Of course I couldn’t fall back to sleep even though it eventually stopped.

I asked people at school and it turns out it’s a Possum. They’re protected here. If it continues to bother me I can call the Council (municipality) and they'll live trap it. I probably won’t ever see it, or them, as like most marsupials they’re nocturnal. They’re about the size and colour of the house cat I live with. So you can imagine my horror when I came out one morning to find a dead possum in front of the house!

They were introduced in NZ years ago and the Kiwis aren’t grateful except for those who keep their tootsies warm wearing socks from their fur.

Actually they’re quite cute looking even though they sound like a vampire before it sinks its teeth into you, at least from what I’ve gleaned from the Twilight trailers!

I don’t have a photo, the only one I’ve seen here was dead, but if you check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHulXzuc_9Y you can see and hear one!

Now tell me that isn’t scary!?

FFF

This weekend I had two adventures with friends who are faculty at Flinders (hence the title).

On Saturday I went Junk Shopping with my Supervisor and her friend. They love to comb the Salvos (Salvation Army), Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, yes just like in Canada, and other shops run by the Red Cross and Humane Society, what we would call Second Hand stores, and Yard Sales. It was fun! I found most of the shops to be higher end and better organized than in Edmonton. In Adelaide recycling is a priority. Darlene can walk into a place and spot a Stella McCartney or antique perfume atomizer, which she bought, in seconds. I found some good books, and a long skirt for 50 cents!

Today I went to a quaint seaside town called Noarlunga, about 15 minutes south of where I live, to snorkel with Glenn. We walked to the end of the Jetty, descended the steps, plunged into the waves and swam out to the reef, a few feet beyond. I had my wet suit on to keep me warm, it is autumn after all even though it was 29C today! Here are some photos with my wonderful underwater camera.

Glenn feeding the fish.

Fish!

Views from the water

Koala 2

Back on February 14 I blogged about my first day in Adelaide and seeing a Koala up a tree. Well I was back at the very same park for the second time, 2 months later, and guess what I spotted?

They're adoreable!

Off the Edge

Many of you ask how I am doing. For the most part I am doing well but sometimes I feel like I'm hanging in mid-air. My colleague who has been here since January told me he is just feeling settled. I found that reassuring as he’s lived and worked in many countries. I too am starting to settle into this place. I notice that people don't seem so strange! This is a little scary but good because feeling settled allows me to focus on my studies (details coming, I promise).

One thing I find that unsettles me and throws me off balance is being sick. When I get sick the only place I really want to be is home in my own bed. Well that’s not an option for me. So feeling under the weather can really take its toll psychologically as well as physically. It gets me down and wondering what am I doing here?

I think we all go through that self doubt, no matter where we are.

Horse Racing

If you were on Google today you saw the photos of the horse that Eadweard J. Muybridge (born 182 years ago) photographed, or rather the horse did, as his leg hit the string tied to the shutter of each camera. The purpose of the exercise was to settle an argument about trotting horses, that all four hooves do in fact leave the ground for a moment. While doing so, he invented the motion picture.

Coincidentally I had a horsy day myself at the Oak Bank Races, a well know South Australia horse race. It wasn’t what I expected. As per the British tradition there were lots of young women wearing dresses, fascinators and high heels.

In fact there were 4 horse races going on around Australia that you could watch on the screen and bet on. I actually bet on a few races, managing to break even. This is an American horse named Juliet’s Princess who didn’t come through for me.

There was controversy over the Steeplechase. A horse had to be put down at the same event on Saturday and three did not complete the event today – but were fine.

But in the centre of the track was a carnival with rides (yes camels and The Titanic?).

and food and games of chance. And people come in mini-buses and lug Eskies (coolers) and have picnics.

The booze was flowing. As the afternoon wore on several young men had trouble walking and finding the toilet… say no more.

Happy Easter!

A few people have expressed concern about me being alone this Easter weekend. Yes it would be nice to be home with my family, but it wasn't so bad.

Here are some photos of my friends

other students

and a colleague and his family who I spent time with this the weekend.

And here's Deb cooking our Easter dinner - shrimp on the barbie.

Happy Easter to you wherever you are.

Cricket “Down Under”

I am reading a book by the American author Bill Bryson called ‘Down Under’. Not unlike his other well-known book, ‘A Walk in the Woods’ that takes place along the Appalachian Trail, it’s a humourous, historical travelogue of Australia. It was recommended to me by a couple from Adelaide now living in B.C.

I was laughing out loud reading it on the beach, to the amusement of the couple on the towel near me.

His description of Cricket is hilarious from my North American perspective. When Keith and I first arrived in Adelaide we were met at the airport by my friends Lori and Bob. They drove by the stadium where they’d spent 10 hours the day before at a Cricket match. We all found that incredulous.

So here’s an excerpt. “Imagine a form of baseball in which the pitcher, after each delivery, collects the ball from the catcher and walks slowly with it to centre field: and… after a minutes pause to collect himself, he turns and runs full tilt towards the pitcher’s mound before hurling the ball at the ankles of a man who stands before him wearing a riding hat, heavy gloves of the sort used to handle radioactive isotopes; and a mattress strapped to each leg. Imagine, moreover, that if this batsman fails to hit the ball in a way that heartens him sufficiently to try and waddle sixty feet with the mattresses strapped to his legs he is under no formal compulsion to run; he may stand there all day, and as a rule does. If by some miracle he is coaxed into making a misstroke that leads to his being put out, all the fielders throw up their arms in triumph and have a hug. Then tea is called and everyone retires happily to a distant pavilion to fortify for the next siege. Now imagine all this going on for so long that by the time the match concludes autumn has crept in and all your library books are overdue.

It is the only sport in which the spectators burn as many calories as players. It is the only competitive activity of any type, other than perhaps baking, in which you can dress in white from head to toe and be as clean at the end of the day as you were at the beginning. There you have cricket.”

Surf's Up

I was always a good student and rarely played hooky but today I skipped out of school early, stopping briefly at the house for my swimsuit, towel and sunscreen and continuing down to Brighton Beach.

It was a hot day and lots of people were at the seaside, mostly families. I think everyone feels like I do, take advantage of the weather as it may be the last chance before autumn really sets in. The nights are cooling off and the odd leaf has fallen.

I bought a vegetable pastie enroute and it was still warm when I ate it one and a half hours later!

I recall a colleague who did his PhD in Australia talking about dividing his time between surfing and his studies. I thought that was cool. I have not learned to board surf yet but did some body surfing today. One step at a time!

Aussieisms

The Reject Shop = Dollar store

Eftpos = debit

Capsicum = pepper (green, red etc.)

No pennies, everything is rounded in a cash transaction.

BLTs and Caesar salads have soft boiled eggs in them. Most Aussies think hard boiled eggs are disgusting!

Movies have different levels of seats ranging in price from $18 to $35.

Dodgy = Sketchy

Ra Ra Ra = And so on

sunnies = sunglasses

Buying gold fish at an outdoor market!?

Home away from Home

So you’ve seen photos of Adelaide and environs. Here is a picture of where I live, ‘the house with the lavender hedge’. That’s how my landlady, Deb, marketed the room. She got me. Oh yes and mentioning it was quiet helped too.

Here she is (on my left) with some friends, both named Susan, on her birthday.

And her cat … Suzi!

Reality Check

So tonight I was going to send you a nice blog with nice photos.  It has to wait.

This blog's been brewing, like Aussie beer, since Keith and I were travelling.   It’s about something not so great here.  

When you live abroad the differences in culture and politics are apparent. But Australia and New Zealand are both Commonwealth countries with colonial roots to Britain like Canada, and therefore in many ways uncannily similar.  So the differences stand out like a sore thumb. 

We put our clocks back yesterday, it’s fall here.  So tonight it became dark at 6:30. Really dark. And there are not many street lights in Adelaide.  I don’t feel safe going for a walk even though it’s a pleasant 25 C.

If I did go for a walk I might roll my ankle. Sidewalks are not well maintained.

The buses don’t connect around the city and the fares are exorbitant.  Most students and the poor cannot afford them.

The cost of living  is much higher. The average cup of coffee, even at McDonalds, is $4.

National and State Parks have poor signage, are inconsistent in terms of amenities, and have private food and souvenir vendors at some of the most picturesque spots.

When I go for a swim there are no flutter boards or equipment on deck to borrow (people buy their own) and I pay extra to go in the sauna on the pool deck.

Private health insurance is a reality for most people as their employer offers nothing, and I mean private insurance for hospital services as well.

Anyone will tell you that private health clinics don’t offer quality services (isn’t that the opposite of what we’ve been told?).

Most schools are private. The public ones have lower quality and standards so what good parent would send their child to one, even though they’re paying $6,000 per semester.

The Howard government in Australia and the National government in New Zealand began the path of privatization in the 1990s (Ralph Klein modeled Alberta on NZ until it started to crash big time).   

Living in Britain 30 years ago I was horrified by the ghettoization of immigrants. I foresaw Canada following suit. Fortunately, Canada did learn something from the UK example.   But privatization is like a snowball rolling down a huge hill, it’s getting bigger and bigger. 

Come on Canadians pay attention and get political.  There’s no going back once you go down the slippery slope of privatizing utilities and essential services. Just ask any Aussie or Kiwi.