Second Anniversary

     Today - April 14, 2010 - is the second anniversary of my arrival here in Australia. 
       No, my life isn't exactly how I envisioned it, particularly in the career category. The state's boom economy apparently  bust for me long before the GFC hit. So although I am not on a high-powered, fast track professional position (at the mo), the position I do have provides some of the variety and voyeurism enjoyed in my previous life in the media.
      In an international move, one wonders, " Will I ever fit in?"  or even "Will I fit in too well?"  I rather fear the day when my blood has gotten "too thin"  to enjoy the wintery weather that allows one to make snow angels or obliges you to scrape ice off the windshield on a daily basis. Or getting to the point that 89F is too cold to go swimming. Uber wimpy.
      When do people cease to sound foreign? Australians, of course, not me.  Last year Kev and I took a road trip south to the Pemberton area. It's a rare and delightfully  green place, which is why a movie was being shot there. We managed to catch a bit of work as extras and bumped into one of the lead actors, an American.  I asked how he liked it here and he had a prepared statement about the area.  This is all well and good, but showed that he didn't "hear" a foreign voice. After many years in this country, an Australian accent sounded as familiar as an American one. I was slightly annoyed by the lack of recognition at the time. Last Sunday I had to laugh at myself.  After church, woman asked where I was from. I gave my customary "US/Canadian border" answer and then detected a faint annoyance in her expression.  I wasn't listening for her accent, which it turns out is more like mine than Kev's.
        Do I remember the day I arrived?  Of course.  It was almost half past one in the morning when the taxi dropped us off at home after a 20 minute ride from the airport.  Kev went to work several hours after that.  I went to the library and signed up for a library card. What else does one do on their first day in a foreign  land?
        And how did I observe this anniversary?  I mailed my U.S. tax return. Not quite the same as a glass of champagne.
      

Easter Bilby

Happy Easter!  OK, a few days late but I had to get artwork for this postcard.  By now, you've gone through the initial supplies of chocolate goodies, painted eggs, jelly beans and ham.  Perhaps you've already made a raid on the post-holiday, 50% off sales racks in the stores.  Look closely, you may be surprised at what you find.  I sure was.

 Hello Easter Bilby and Easter Wombat.  You may be hollow creations of Cadbury chocolate  but you bring great joy to Australian children on their way to diabetic shock. Never mind those Easter bunnies, a reminder of the scourge they have become on this land after some farmer brought them in from Europe for hunting without realizing they had no natural enemies to keep their numbers down. A pox on them. We have the shy Bilby, with its looooong ears, loooong nose and looong tail to immortalize in mounds of theobroma.   And let us not forget you, O Humble Wombat, built like a fire hydrant with four legs and a hairy nose.  You have a cute name and are positively adorable with your fur the color of milk chocolate. munch, munch, munch. No wonder Aussies of all ages hold you in awe and fond memory.
     What is noticeably missing here are the mounds jelly beans that appear at Easter time in North America. And outside a few notable cultural cliques (like the Polish Heritage Centre), decorated  chicken eggs don't figure prominently in the celebrations.  Did I smuggle a PAAS egg dyeing kit into the country? Can't find it if I did.  That's OK,  I'm good.  And waiting for the 75% off sales.