thanksgiving in oz

many people in australia have taken great interest in the tradition of thanksgiving as i shared my intentions to celebrate it here. i'm guessing some of the tv shows give a good glimpse of it, but some have been surprised to hear that it is still so commonly celebrated, and that most of america stops on this official public holiday just to sit down and eat a turkey dinner and pumpkin pie with friends and family. i must say, bringing this american tradition to australia was not necessarily an easy task. first of all, it meant postponing the main event (the meal) until saturday, since thursday is of course a normal work day here. also, many of the ingredients you would normally find in the u.s., especially around thanksgiving, are not so easy to find here. here's a full narrative of the way our 1st thanksgiving here went down:

as i was at work on thursday (the real thankgsiving), still planning the menu for saturday's dinner, i got a call from the alliance francaise (french culture/learning organization) asking if i wanted to attend a professional development day they were hosting on friday - une journee en immersion - for all french teachers in perth. someone had canceled so i was first on the waiting list to get in. i knew how good it would be for me to go and get to know some of the other french teachers here and start preparing for next year, so i accepted the invitation. then, five minutes later, i received the email with the day's schedule and found out the program went from 9am until 9pm!! that's right, 12 hours of speaking french! trying to stay positive, i just kept thinking somehow thanksgiving would happen, even if sacrificing sleep was involved (that is the tradition, after all).

friday's immersion day went really well, although it was roughly 98 degrees outside when they were trying to do a medieval dance lesson. spirits were not too high at that point of the day, but the rest of it went well. i got home just after 9, and had to get to the grocery store by 10pm before it closed. i really struggled at the grocery store to find the strength to push through my frustration at some of the essential items on my list that simply were not to be found like:
- whipped topping (like cool whip!)
- miniature marshmallows
- corn syrup
- cranberry flavored jell-o
- wild rice (ok, i knew that would be hard to find)
- unbaked pie crust (i didn't think i'd have time to do one from scratch)

so i returned home w/ a few substitutes and proceeded to make my 'cran-raspberry gelatin salad' with all raspberry ingredients, big vanilla/raspberry flavored candy marshmallows from the candy aisle, and fresh whipped cream instead of cool whip. it still turned out to be a hit!

the next morning, jason and i got up early to try a bigger grocery store for some of the other missing items and were lucky to find a pie crust (although they call it 'flan shell' or something) and also some wild rice imported straight from canada. unfortunately, it was about $4.50 for a little 2 oz. box, but we got enough to mix with some brown rice for my 'minnesota wild rice & apple dressing.' we then picked up a few other things and went to pick up our fresh turkey from the butcher. i love the tradition of having a butcher shop in the neighborhood, with that friendly butcher who can tell you exactly how to cook the turkey to come out perfectly, even when it's your first time doing one.

the rest of the day went off without a hitch - jason worked his usual magic on the 'barbie' and the turkey came out 3 1/2 hours later as moist and tasty as could be. i went to work on the pumpkin pie, mom's 'escalloped corn,' a sweet potato casserole (thanks susanne!), and the wild rice dressing. everything miraculously got done just as our guests arrived. none of them had ever really celebrated thanksgiving before, so it was fun to talk about all the various food traditions (some of which are quite random, like the gelatin salad!), since it certainly is not food that you have very often. due to the many questions asked about thanksgiving, i've had the chance to reflect a lot about why it is such an important tradition. it's hard to pin it down exactly, but i really think the holiday gives me a chance to stop and feel a sense of 'home' and 'contentment' - this year, it came in the form of some new friends being with us, and the feeling of new accomplishments, opportunities and adventures awaiting us here in oz.

here's a few pics of our happy crew yesterday:
Carlos, Eli, me, Jason and Julien










Carlos, Eli, me, Julien and Simone

master's = done!

that's right, one week ago i officially became a master of education (in applied linguistics)! i apologize for how sporadic my entries on here have been as i have been approaching the end of this intense year of classes and my research project. a few weeks before my major paper was due, i wasn't too sure it would all come together, but it certainly did, and i'm really happy with the way it all turned out. i honestly can't believe that i squeezed a master's degree into just one year, but as i look over at my dining room table, which is piled high with many binders filled with all the articles i've read and assignments completed, i have physical proof of what i have accomplished. as with most things in life though, as soon as one journey ends, another begins. and i am finding that i am already looking ahead to what's next, which is getting ready to teach french next year at presbyterian ladies' college (plc). the 2007 school year is just finishing (ending mid-december for summer holidays here) so i am going to go in to school a few times over the next few weeks to sit in on some classes, gather materials and start preparing. my goal is to do as much prep work now because as soon as december hits, the holidays will be in full swing here with vacations and visitors

this week, i am eagerly preparing for my first 'aussie' thanksgiving here. i am determined to cook the full meal, even though it is not a holiday here, so we are planning to have it on saturday (instead of thursday). it is my first time 'hosting' a thanksgiving, so wish me luck! we have ordered a 5 kilo turkey and are planning to roast it on our grill (to save space in the oven for those yummy sides) so if anyone has any experience with this, please let us know! :) i think our friends here are more excited than we are to experience an american thanksgiving! ha!

a few weeks ago, the red bull air race came to perth, and we had front row seats at the swan river for watching it. the speed and precision of the planes on the course was just incredible! the following video is a bit hard to see, but it at least gives you an idea of what it was like:

job offer!

i don't have much time to write, but wanted to let everyone know that i have been offered a position as a french teacher at a private, all-girls school in perth! i had an interview last thursday and then went back yesterday to meet with the head of department (hod), who interviewed me in french. i thought both interviews went quite well and was really excited about the position, but of course having no teaching experience for a while (and none in perth), i had no idea what my chances were of getting the job. then, later yesterday afternoon, i got the call from the deputy principal to say that they are offering me the job, which starts in february of 2008 (the beginning of the school year here)!! and get this... they have also asked me to help lead the girls' trip to france during one of the term breaks!! i don't think i could have been more pleased!! so, thank you to all of you who were sending those good vibes, thoughts and prayers during those interviews - i have no doubt that they really helped!

i will fill in more of the details soon, but first things first - i must finish up my master's in the next 3 weeks!

catch up day

another month has passed by, which means i now only have one more month of school left! can this really be right? i still feel like i just started my master's a few months ago. i think all the traveling has made this year fly by faster than usual. and maybe it has something to do with living in a new country or something, too. :) everything is going well though. my work schedule at university records is perfect right now - they are so flexible over there so i can really just decide for myself how much/little i work each week. i am usually there tuesday, thursday and fridays, so monday and wednesdays are my days devoted to doing school work, as well as at least part of the weekend. i have been meaning to get some pictures of our trip to queensland (now a month old) up here, so i am hoping this facebook link works. we had an amazing week in cairns, filled with a visit to one of the oldest rainforests in the world, scuba diving at the great barrier reef, and a historic train ride into the rainforest-filled mountains, with a skyride back down. we also had a layover at ayer's rock (uluru) on our way back from cairns - we rented a car so that we could drive out and hike around the base of it. it is located right smack in the center of australia, and there is definitely not much else around. it was quite a memorable experience, flying in right next to the rock - it literally is a giant in the midst of nothingness.

interesting turn of events

my original plan ever since arriving in perth was to try to find a job (part-time) in the schools while i was studying in order to get to know the system over here and find out if i would like to consider a full-time teaching position after completing my master's. everyone i have talked to in western australia (some that i had barely even met) immediately would comment on the shortage of teachers and how they would expect me to find something very quickly if i wanted it since they are just in such high demand. well... my hopes were definitely shot down because that certainly has been a bit of a stretch. after jumping through several hoops already just to have my 'overseas qualifications' for teaching reviewed by the western australian college of teaching (wacot), i just learned last week that i must also have a criminal background check done back in the u.s. and sent over here (i guess i should have assumed this would be necessary, but i've been out of practice). after finding out that this could take up to 16 weeks, and that you really can't teach anywhere (even substitute) without that wacot registration, i decided to redirect my efforts of looking elsewhere for work. well, as luck would have it, jason and i had plans to have brunch last sunday with my friend meg and her parents. she and her parents have just been so wonderful to us in this transition. kate (meg's mom) actually works at the university of western australia and after talking about this whole nightmare of a process to transfer my teaching credentials over here, she offered to have a look at the university to see if there was anything i could do over there temporarily. i could not even believe this, but just three days later, she called and said she found something for me! then, yesterday i went in for an informal interview and secured my pay, schedule, etc and i am now officially employed!! i have to say, it is certainly not my 'dream job' as i will be working in the university records department, mainly scanning student records and documents in to their electronic database, but it pays pretty well and it's only 3 days a week, so i'm happy! the other plus side of the deal is that since i will now be "staff" i have the opportunity to eventually look for other jobs within the university that may suit me better and apply internally. hooooray!

off-roading adventure

our most recent adventure this weekend definitely warrants a place on this blog. we decided to really test the limits of our new 4wd and head up the coast to a spot where the paved road ends and the only way to continue is by traversing a great stretch of sand tracks and dunes, and drive along the beach in some places! we unfortunately forgot our camera but the photos here are most likely the same places we went. i would have loved to have more, though. the spot where our offroading adventure began was just a few miles outside of the town of lancelin, about 2 1/2 hours north of perth. the first area we got to was filled with sand dunes and was a very popular spot for dirt bike riders to practice their death-defying stunts. again, wish i had a picture of this - it was so cool. the dunes a little further down were reserved for sandboarding. again, i had never really seen this before, but it reminded me of snowboarding except on sand. we also saw others just purely sledding down the dunes. i guess that would be what people do in winter since there's no snow! as the 4wd trail continued, there was less dirt bike traffic (and traffic in general, since only 4wd's can go past all of that - yeah!). keep in mind, we only had a rough map of the trails and with so many of them winding in and out of one another, we quickly gave up hope of following the map and just decided to follow our noses instead. we made our way to the beach where we had to maneuver our way through some pretty soft sand (we didn't get bogged though) and were able to park and go for a long walk along the deserted beach. even for it being winter here, we actually had really nice weather on saturday, with plenty of sunshine. on our way back just before the sun set (around 5:30pm!) we were able to see about 6 wallabies, which i initially mistook for kangaroos until we then saw 3-4 kangaroos alongside them and i could see that the wallabies were slightly shorter and chubbier. we also saw an emu - for those of you not familiar with these, it looks sort of like an ostrich. i was amazed how close we could get to these animals without them really running off. the kangaroos and wallabies would hop across the road, then just stop and stare at us for a while! i'm used to the deer in northern minnesota, where you only catch their little white tails jumping off into the woods! anyway, that pretty much sums up the little adventure. we are very happy with the performance of our little x trail. she is going to serve our off-roading needs just fine!

morning visitor

many people who know me would say that i am not a very squeamish person and can easily handle disposing of the occasional bug that finds its way into the house. i also have no problem whatsoever with pretty much anything that crosses my path in the great outdoors (spiders, snakes, mice, etc etc). i will admit, though, that i am not as used to the bugs, lizards, etc of australia, which i believe are generally bigger than their counterparts in north america. anyway, it's usually just when things from the great outdoors find their way indoors to surprise me out of context that i succumb to that stereotypical female reaction of screaming at the top of my lungs. so, as you're probably guessing, that in fact happened first thing this morning (before even making my coffee!) when i was about to fill the brita water pitcher in the sink and found a little gecko (like the geico gecko!) doing laps around the sink (i obviously startled it out of its gecko slumber). jason quickly came to the poor fella's rescue and tried setting it free outside the kitchen window, at which point the little guy actually gave jason's finger a bit of a hug and tried to resist its return to the cold morning air. it was quite cute, actually.

i also thought i'd attach a few pics of the new car, which we are absolutely loving! we're already planning our first road trip for this weekend up the coast...