Yes, we finally got our sea shipment on Wednesday! Most of the stuff is unpacked and put away-- the result of 4 days of hard work. I'm always reminded of why I dread moving every time I have to pack and unpack. But there is a certain amount of comfort being surrounded by your familiar things-- a feeling of home and permanence. Now I feel like we've actually moved to Australia and I'm not just visiting. I have to say one of the things I missed most of all of our things was having a decent set of knives; given all the cooking I do.
We received our shipment on Wednesday, and Mike left for the U.S. on Friday morning. The kids also started their 2 week Spring Holiday on Friday as well. We were lucky to get our stuff when we did. They originally told us the earliest delivery date was this Tues-- while Mike was gone and I was home with the kids by myself. They miraculously had a cancellation after Mike wrote a "I'm very disappointed with your lack of effort after I took the time to plan ahead" email. We had a few things broken, some property damage, and 3 guys at our house until about 8:30pm. I was not impressed; but am just glad to be almost done.
We spent the weekend at home just hanging out. I've been busy unpacking and organizing, and the kids getting reacquainted with all their toys and games. We also took advantage of the pool with the warm weather. We will probably fit in some outings this week before Mike returns next Sunday. Then it'll be off to the beach for 5 days! Mike will be sleeping off the jet lag on the beach...
I've actually had a few opportunities to meet some parents at the kids' schools via volunteering at school activities and attending class outings. I have yet to learn all their names though. I have learned that the Aussies take their "picnicking" seriously. We were invited to a family picnic with Lucas' class on a Sunday morning at a park. They said there would be games for the kids and to just bring a picnic lunch. I packed some sandwiches, chips, fruit, and soda-- our American idea of a picnic. As we munched on our lunch out of our cooler, we notice wine glasses being taken out, wine bottles, bottles of beer, cutting boards, sandwiches being made, cheese spreads, and large bags of chips and crackers; not to mention someone with a table and cloth napkins. Later, we found out it was the Class Mum's birthday so we sang "Happy Birthday" and toasted her with some champagne. I didn't partake in the wine (I was offered many times), but did sip some champagne. Mike was offered some beer from some Dads-- and of course he did partake (he needed to after watching ND lose to Michigan that morning). I realized this is par for the course here when we saw the same thing at an evening outing at the boys' school and at a park get together for Jonah's class after school on Friday (and it wasn't even during meal time). Mike said, "It's like tailgating!"
Another funny story... Whenever I start to feel good about knowing my way around and start to feel less like a visitor, I am reminded that my accent sounds funny here. I was at the Korean grocery about 2 weeks ago and I was speaking to the lady there in Korean about some of the food items. As I was checking out, she says, "Your Korean sounds like you haven't lived in Korea for a very long time." I replied, "Yes, I left when I was 6 and I don't get to use Korean everyday." From there I went to the shopping center to grab some lunch. I ordered a Kebab at the food court from a guy who looked like he was of Indian origin with a very heavy Aussie accent. As he handed me my change, he said, "Are you from Canada?"
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