Mar-Apr Update

Hi Y'all, sorry its been a while between drinks. Writing a Blog has been a little tricky as Simon has been taking the laptop with him on his travels. So once again this one's a long one and I do tend to ramble on but hope you enjoy our Webb update none-the-less.

Last time I promised a few Americanisms and differences that we've come across since we've been here. There are big and little differences, they're not necessarily bad but they are different and it can throw you off a little bit. So here goes:

• you flick the switch up to turn the lights on (sounds insignificant but you dont know how frustrating the art of illumination became)



• The serated edge of Glad Wrap is on the upper side of the box which means you have to flick your wrist differently - feels odd!



• Of course, driving on the RHS of the road which leads on to mixing indicators & windscreen wipers, continuosly getting into the passenger seat and realising that the steering wheel is not in front of you, grabbing at the doorhandle trying to find the gearstick



• You are allowed to make a RH turn (equivalent of Aussie LH turn) when you are stopped at a RED light as long as there is no oncoming traffic - Simon loves this rule!



• All notes are the same colour and look the same, have to really watch what you're handing over. Plus they still have $1 notes (forgot how annoying they are - they tend to multiply) and 1 cent coins. The 5 cent coin is larger than the 10 cent coin - logical right?



• Fareinheit v celcius, pounds v kilos, miles v kilometers etc



• We call it Kinder, they call it preschool. We call it prep, they call it Kinder. Has lead to a few confusing conversations



• You can buy grog at the petrol station



• We can get a 6 pack of Grolsch beers for $5.64 and Mumm champagne for $17 (no complaints there)



• The US do not understand the concept of saying 'double B' as in 'Webb' or 'double 99" in a phone number etc.



• Food is crap. All bread is very sugary and tastes like McDonalds buns. Everything is full of sugar and whilst there is some attempt to have reduced fat foods there is so much more variety in Australia. The only cream you can buy is full fat, to get low fat you have to buy the artificial stuff you squirt out of a can. 99% of cereals are full of sugar. The closest we came to Weetbix is 'weetabix' in the British section of the supamarket and it costs $10 a box. We have limited it to weekend use.


• They have some different animals here. The first time we saw a squirrel in our back yard we all got excited, tried to take a million pictures and sat fascinated for ages. After a little while we pegged it down a notch to 'Look Mum a squirrel!!'. I imagine it wont be too long before we dont even comment. We did have a deer run out on to the road a couple of weeks back which was pretty novel and we saw a skunk!!. True, it was roadkill but that's besides the point.

Now on to the good stuff - truly stupid things Americans say. We have quite a few examples but I'll just put the 2 goodies in for your amusement:

1. Whilst we were going through the register at the local supermarket. I was trying to get the exact amount in both notes and coins when I said to the lady "Just check to see if I've given you the right amount. I'm still getting used to your money". The check out chick replied "What, you don't have American money?". We explained that we have our own currency in Australia. She just shrugged as in 'whatever'.


2. When we first arrived we spent a lot of time on the phone speaking to "customer representatives" from various companies. One particular customer service rep asked what language we speak in Australia. She seriously didn't believe me when I said English, as she thought England spoke English, she spoke American and could not believe me when I said we all spoke the same language! I felt like asking that if this phone call is being recorded for training purposes then please use it as a lesson in stupidity!
   
   

Here's my little Liam-Boy all growned up!! He graduated from cot to mattress-on-the-floor in Jan at Mum and Dad's house and did really well with the transition. However it wasn't until US week 3 (when his bed arrived) that he graduated from blow up lilo to Big Boy Bed. Doesn't he look tiny?



Ashley has turned into quite the budding photographer (might be following in her Poppy's footsteps) so much so that we set her up with the camera and she walks around taking pictures - somewhat abstract and almost all headless. We've included a few of her recent pieces. . .




A self- portrait
A picture of a picture







And . . .

well, when we saw this Simon and I just looked at each other a little mortified that an almost 4 year thought to do this ( and had the dexterity). We asked Ashley to explain this picture to us and quite simply she replied "It's my legs".

Of course! How often our adult minds are quick to sully the innocence of children.

Gosh, Easter seems so long ago now. With Simon's work schedule,it seems to be common practice now that we change important occasions to suit our needs ie. Simon's birthday and then Easter. We went shopping for Easter Eggs but found that there's not much chocolate on offer. Here they're big into 'candy' treats that you place inside plastic Easter eggs. I'm not sure if its just a Texas thing, as in the chocolate would have melted before the kids found it or they just aren't into it. Anyway, the chocolate that we did get was nothing on good old Cadburys. But the kids devoured it none-the-less. For those of you who know Liam and his famous catch cry of 'YOC-LATE!!' then you know he was in his element.

Simon had to work 4 out of a 5 week stretch and so to break it up we took the family along to a tournament. AB's wife Richelle recommended Hilton Head Island, South Carolina which is a popular beach resort/golfer's paridise. If you consider that Texas is like the Adelaide of Australia then we, more or less, flew across to Sydney.

When we arrived I had stupidly packed 99% summer clothes for me and the kids and we walked into beautiful weather of 17 oC. We had talked up the beach and the pool so much to the kids that we had to take them regardless of our goosebumps. I kindly delegated pool duty to Simon and volunteered for beach hour.

Usually Simon works with AB before and after his round and walks the course as he plays. This week he just did what he had to do and came back to the hotel inbetween. Most days he got up at 5.30am, woked with Aaron and was walking back in the door at 8am just as the kids were waking up. They were none the wiser and we were able to spend most of the day together. Luckily the weather improved to about 25 oC after the 1st 2 days and the rest of the week was just lovely.

WARNING: The following material may be offensive to some viewers. Parental guidance and buckets may be required. View at own discretion.

Is it art??

Is it paint??

Nooo .... its super vomit!!

Oh Mr Hart, What a mess!

We had spent the afternoon/evening at a street party with the families of some mums I have met. After the kids had consumed unimaginable amounts of junk food (including these god awful cupcakes with bright blue icing) we headed home to put the kids to bed. We just thought Liam was thirsty when he downed a bottle of water and when he kept pointing into his mouth and saying 'cochroach' we just thought he was weird and then when Simon saw him start to heave his shoulders. . . well I dont know what he was thinking but next thing we know we had irridescent blue vomit all over the floor. Simon called out to me after he had cupped his hands together and caught what he could and my first thought was to get him into the bathroom. What I hadnt counted on was more projectile vomiting along the hallway walls and carpet. So in essence, I didnt contain the damage I simply doubled it! Once I had dumped Liam in the bath he was as happy as good ole Larry. I wish I could download the video footage but its just too long. He just sat in the bath singing 'la la la laaaa more bomit' (aka vomit) and laughing away. Simon went to the shops to get some carpet cleaner and we scrubbed the top layers off our hands till midnight in an attempt to save our bond. No more cupcakes for Liam.

Anyhow I think thats enough Webb talk for one day. Hope you are all fit, well and happy. We are enjoying life so far, miss home but Christmas time will be here before we know it. We have family that are keeping home sickness at bay. My sister Nicole is dropping in from Hong Kong for 4 days in June, Simon's folks will be here in August and then mine in Sept. Anyone else is more than welcome to visit you'll just have to make reservations early! Ciao Cara xx