Get in Shape GIRL!

Started off the day at 6:00 a.m. with a run...only the HARDEST RUN EVER!!! A kind co-worker, Don, allowed me to run with him this morning. He didn't tell me until he picked me up at 6:00 a.m. that we were going to mount Ainslie.

We didn't even run totally UP it, but the ups and downs on the trail were just about enough for this midwestern girl. Man I miss the nice, flat canal. The amount of pain and misery I was feeling by the end of the run cannot be put into words by any human, but was captured pretty well by the bird I heard while running. The sound was something like, "YEEELP!"...cry..."OWWwwwwwww".

It was all worth it though because I saw at least six KANGAROOS!!! I love them. They're so cute and bouncy. From now on they are my second favorite animal. Their footprints are soo cool.

I ate my first hamburger in Australia for lunch. It was really good, different, but good. I think they cooked onions into the hamburger, which made it seem a little like a meatloaf, but there was no ketchup (or as the Australian's sometimes say: "tomato sauce") on it so it was ok. But the toppings are where it gets strange. They put lettuce, some sort of mustard I think (it wasn't very strong), and EGGPLANT! All in all it hit the spot because I haven't really eaten much red meat in three weeks.

Somethings to ponder: Australians say "tomato sauce" for Ketchup, and "Chips" for french fries. So imagine now an Australian coming to the US and ordering "chips and tomato sauce". Other interesting differences, Bell peppers are called "Capsicum", and a chicken sandwich is a "Chicken Burger", and when I order a Burger, I have to say "Beef Burger" - a little redundant to my American brain.

Back to the day, so - as if the moutainous run this morning wasn't enough for me. After a full day of work, I had an appointment with a personal trainer who kicked my butt. I'm gonna get into shape ... woo whoooo!!!

Another good thing today. I met a girl from church at a place called Cream for coffee, and found out she works out at the same gym! YAY. Also the food we snacked on at Cream was good, and I splurged and got some sort of decadent hot chocolate. MMMMmmm

G'Day

Today has just been a good day. Perhaps a bit of tiredness finally wore off, a few evenings at home refreshed me, or I am started to get settled because I have groceries, a phone, internet, a church, and friends! And, one of the best things about today is that I realized that my stereo has a USB input, so I can listen to my ipod in my whole apartment!

I worked out after work at my new gym, Fitness First, scheduled my 1st personal training session for tomorrow, and ate guacamole and peanut butter & banana for dinner. Life is good. I am excited about Fitness First because it has Les Mills classes, like at NIFS, my beloved gym in Indy. (I miss you NIFS!) At the gym I was dismayed because I wanted to do a certain program on the cardio machine that requires weight entry...in KILOGRAMS!!! Darn Metric system! I am still trying to get the conversions.

I look forward to this week when I will be continuing to work out, hopefully meeting a few new friends from church for coffee, running Wednesday morning with a new running buddy (and hopefully seeing kangaroos), getting my access to systems at work (optimism is key!!!), and I'm sure more and more exciting unexpected surprises are yet to come. I'm REALLY hoping for a kangroo sighting this week tho. :-) I LOVE BOUNCY ANIMALS!

No WAY!!!

Just a quick post. I went to Life City Christian Church again. No way #1 - There was a guy who goes there from INDIANA!!! I wouldn't have known except the Pastor made a comment about Indiana. No WAY!!!

Next, I didn't really plan on going to the picnic after church, but everyone was so friendly and encouraged me to go, so, of course, I went. I tried a variety of ethnic foods, and as I was loading up my plate, I saw a familiar face. I almost wrote it off becuase who on earth would I even know in Canberra Australia! Well, turns out, there's a girl on the design team at my project who ALSO goes to Life City. NO WAY!!!

Another odd thing is that as I was walking through Glebe Park, I think I saw something that looked like LARPers...that just always makes me say NO WAY!!! They had these huge plastic versions of midieval weapons and were battling each other. I'm not fully sure if they were LARPers, but it is my best guess. (Disclaimer: I say No WAY because it's amusing but I don't fully "get it". No offense intended to any LARPers out there.)

Finally, I got home and took a nap, watched Australian Idol and made guacamole. It was yummy, and I was happy.

Halloween!

Although Halloween isn't quite as big in Australia as it is in the US, we had a great Halloween party. (The only disappointing fact is that I forgot my camera!) MOST of the people at the party were dressed in costume! YAY Aussies for participating. Nothing against the Irish, but they really didn't participate in the spirit of ridiculous dressing up. (To that I say "RUBBISH!")

Oh...you're wondering what I dressed up as? Inspired by a poster I saw on my walk through town last week, the whole group intended on kicking the Halloween party of by attending the roller derby. Much to our dismay, Danmay was unable to secure us the tickets even with advanced planning, they were all sold out! As a consolation for the disappointment, I thought I'd dress up like a roller girl. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any roller skates that were less than $399. It was a relief when everyone identified my costume instantly as I walked through the door, phew! Even without skates! We had a "blast" at the party!

Boring Update

I haven't really mentioned some of the little things that have been going on. Fairly uninteresting, but they are a big deal to me towards making me feel at home as possible when I'm pretty much as far as possible from home! My small victories are:

- I got an Australian Mobile phone
- I got an Australian internet connection
- They finally got my land line phone fixed
- They got my living room blinds fixed
- I FINALLY got unpacked and feel more settled (it took me a week to find some decent hangers!)
- I found the Church that I believe God has led me to find (so quick!!! PRAISE GOD!!)



I'm still working on:

- Crossing the street (They have nice big arrows to tell me which way to look)
- Not accidentally taking the long way to everywhere I go
- Working out/running

I've found some new places to try, and that I like including a fave coffee place (they know what I order...not that it's that special...I think it's fairly common for Americans to order a long black).

Cricket at the BBQ

No...I'm not talking about the bugs!! I went to my first BBQ in Australia, and had a great time. A co-worker Josh was kind enough to invite us to his home to grill out. The Americans were schooled in how to play cricket, and I must say the girls kicked butt! See Dana knockin' one outta the park, and Dan let in the dust!

I also discovered Australian idol. Nothing like American Idol, but still a taste of something I love from home. If you wondered if everything is backwards in Australia...get this...they eliminate someone at the BEGINNING of the show, then the featured guest performs, then you see the long part of everyone performing and the comments from the wacky judges. The judges don't even make sense! I can never predict who they're going to like or hate based on the performance.

1st Aussie Saturday

I started today with a nice long breakfast at Gus'. This started my day off on the right foot because I need to know good breakfast/brunch places in any city I live in, and Gus' is just that. With mostly outdoor seating and a selection of omelettes, french toast and pancakes, I'll definitly have to return to try more options!

After Gus', I took a walk around to take up time before I met Kevin to go to the National Museum. I walked past my current favorite pub in Canberra, Wig and Pen (only out of the three or so that I've tried in the first week!). They brew they're own beer and I had a sampler so I could try a few of them! The Velvet Cream Stout (which we nicknamed "Breakfast Beer") and Mr Natural (which I think we called "BBQ Beer") were our favorites...or favourites.

The walk to the National Museum and the external views of it were the highlight of the journey. Inside the museum, the exhibits were nicely arranged, but it was difficult to actually see/understand the point of the story the exhibits were trying to tell. See the album for the views and the birds I saw on the way as well as some of the views of the museum.