The Pickled Possum and Southern Visitors

Oh hayyyy!

A while ago, our Aussie friends told us about a karaoke bar called The Pickled Possum. They said it was a little trashy, they served beer out of a cooler on top of the bar, and you couldn’t go there unless you’ve already had some drinks… sign me up! Plus, I never pass up a chance to perform some Ke$ha.

 

The Possum was exactly how they described it… but better. The stage was held up by milk crates and the entire place fit maybe 50 people. The song list appeared to have not been updated since 2001.. but THANK GOD “Tik Tok” was on there.

 

We had a great time!

 

In other news, we had some visitors in town! Well, they weren’t here to see us. But we saw them. And hung out. So yeah. John’s old boss at Dell Nashville’s friend (follow that?) was in Sydney for a conference. She works for the Tennessee Department of Tourism and was here trying to build a better relationship between Australia and Nashville.. cool right?? Anyway, it was so nice hearing some southern accents and getting to talk to people face-to-face about life in Australia!  We took them to some of our favourite (see that “u” in there? I didn’t even do that on purpose. Autocorrect. The Australian robots have taken over my computer!) places and tried out some new places as well.

 

 

Last weekend, we spent a nice winter’s day playing lawn bowl and lounging with some friends at Bondi Beach…

Check out this cemetery we passed in the area…stunning. 

 And last but not least.. I got a new job! I start in a couple of weeks. You have to give a 5-week notice here… not 2 weeks. What the what?? For the most laid back country on earth that seems like a bit much.

Guest Post starring my roomate and co-worker, John Dubya Wells!!!!!!

Back by popular demand... or by demand of my wife and my mother-in-law... Potayyto-Potahhto

Lately, in my world it's been working, eating, sleeping, dog-walking, and running. And, with regard to Australian life and culture, I feel like we're less actively pursuing, and more easily having it become a part of our lives. I've been thinking a lot about adventure and excitement and what it means in our lives and also about being a participant in life, and not just an audience member.

"SPORT"

In conversation with a work-friend the other day,  I found myself saying "I feel like my 'sports brain' has grown three sizes since I've been here."

This is no joke. Sydney is a global city, and multicultural. And just as North America has sports that are primarily followed there (i.e. basketball, baseball, football, hockey), the Aussies have their own in Cricket, Rugby League, Australian Rules Football (Remember Annie's blog post including our trip to one of these games). And then all the Europeans we work with are going bananas for the world cup and futbol, which admittedly is a great, global game (GO USA).

So yeah, it's safe to say I'm getting to know the sporting world better and loving it. Most recently, last Wednesday, I went to Rugby League's "State of Origin Game."



There are two kinds of Rugby here: Rugby League, and Rugby Union. I've learned this from people with thick accents and may have misunderstood slight details, but the best I can figure:

Rugby Union: the original game (we went to one of these games when Annie's parents were here)- these are the rules used for the international competitions, and I think if you've seen rugby in the US, this is the game you would have seen. The 'Strayans call it "A Thug's Game, Played by Gentlemen".

Rugby League: A game primarily native to Australia. Arguably either started in New South Wales or Queensland. There are some differentiators in the rules, but to me an easy takeaway is that it's like a step toward American Football from Rugby Union, known by Australians as "A Thug's Game, Played by Thugs"

So back to the State of Origin Game.. As I mentioned, Rugby League kinda argues about whether the game started in NSW or QLD, and each year, they have a knock down, drag out, where the best players from each state get together and play a best-of-three game series to decide which state is truly superior. It's kind of like an AllStar game, but with the hype of the Super Bowl.

It was an absolutely awesome experience to behold. Imagine 83,000 of your closest Australian friends, packed in to ANZ stadium (formerly the olympic stadium), wearing blue wigs (the NSW color), eating sausage sizzles, drinking beer, yelling obscenities at the opposition....

Also, NSW won for the first time in 8 years... Now I'm not saying I'm a good luck charm...

Main Takeaways:
- This is one of the best rivalries in sports, with a ton of history behind it. The passion rivaled what I've seen from SEC football.. it was really cool.
- At one point we all chanted "THURSTON's a WANKER"... apparently Thurston isn't a nice guy. 
- Sausage sizzles are everywhere here... I still snicker when I hear the name.


Also, Annie has probably let you know, we're playing Touch Rugby in the Lunchtime Legends league at work... lots of fun. Australia's next rugby power couple right here...

 Also we played lawn bowls for the first time yesterday - an excellent "leisure time" activity!

So that's the sports update...

PARTICIPATING

Earlier, I mentioned feeling like it's important to me to be a PARTICIPANT in life and culture, and not just an audience member, and I've been feeling a personal challenge to do some kind of community work. The timing of this feeling was perfect, as Jess (one of our Australian BFFs), approached us asking if we'd help raise some money for the charity she works for. Annie and I came up with a lot of excuses, "our network here is so small!" for example.

I had to remind myself that while we're in Australia, it's important to me not only to take from the culture, learning what I can and "getting amongst it" as they say. But also I feel the need to give back to the culture here, and do what I can to help. So I've chosen to raise money for AIME, a charity that gives indigenous high school kids the skills, opportunities, belief and confidence to finish school at the same rate as their peers. There's a significant education gap between indigenous kids and their peers, and this organization helps pair kids up with a mentor to help them succeed. Awesome program, and our awesome friend Jess works there, so the connection was good.

More good news, I'm raising money while training for the City 2 Surf, really cool road running race which goes from downtown Sydney to Bondi Beach.

So, if I can raise $1,000, that covers a little more than what it costs to have a kid mentored for one school term. Maybe my home network can help make my Sydney network not seem too small??

Shameless self promotion... but I wouldn't ask for help if it wasn't something I believed in.
My donation page: https://city2surf2014.everydayhero.com/au/john-10
Profile documentary on AIME: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt5RxdQRFR4
AIME Site: http://aimementoring.com/

OK, Ok, ok, in the words of Annie Louise Stapp Wells, "ALRIGHT, WRAP THIS UP JOHN!"

Three more pieces of Australian vocab & I'm outta here...

Instead of "knock on wood" to ward off any bad karma, they say "touch wood" which is funny.

Australian abbreviations are everywhere, instead of "competition" they'll just say "comp"

The abbreviation for "mathematics" at home is "math".... but here they say "maths" with an S! it's hilarious. The opposite goes for "Sports".. they just call it/them "Sport"


"There are far more things we have in common than things that divide us"
- Walt Disney

Beautiful Byron Bay

Queen Elizabeth had a birthday, so we had a day off work. Thanks, Lizzie! We took advantage of the long weekend and headed up to Byron Bay..just on the New South Wales/Queensland border. 

It was a quick 1 hour flight to this beachy, laid-back, hippy town. Think cool dudes skateboarding, girls with dreadlocks, and a "shoes optional" policy just about anywhere. 

We kayaked with dolphins, hiked to the Eastern most point of Australia, lounged, ate, and drank for 3 days and it was glorious. 

Yes- those are fajitas! And they were actually really good!

We stayed at a cute little granny flat (aka mother-in-law suite) we found on airbnb

Rudy was in good hands with some friends back home in Sydney

Cheers to long holiday weekends and exploring new towns!