Letterheads...
Is there such a thing as a rude American living abroad in Sydney? I know that Americans have a pretty bad reputation around the world for being loud, obnoxious, and well noticeable (for lack of a better word. I think being Asian-American, I tend not to stick out as an American, but rather someone from China? Japan? oh..Korea...right, but I haven't had too many altercations while I've travelled, or even moved to Sydney. I know there are Americans out here, I can easily detect the foreign but familiar accent amongst the long lazy ones. But I had never really run across too many before - granted, I haven't spoken to many people here in Australia, but this is this one person I just overheard (granted, it was hard not to when he's yelling) in a post office.
Today started on a good note, I was ready to mail my application for a position in the government. That's right, mail. The description said that we could e-mail the application, however we had to mail a signed application anyway, so I decided just to mail the whole thing - figure it best to keep things together. So...I marched over to the post office, excited that this application was finally going out, and it being Tuesday, I was pretty sure that a local delivery to another location within the Greater Sydney area should take most two days, okay, maybe three if the post men decided to drop my envelop. As the application is due on Friday, I decided to err on being early.
So...in I marched and stood on the line (I don't think I have ever NOT stood on a line at the post office) and glanced in acknowledgement of the person in front of me. The line went forward, and this guy in front of me goes to the front, and the next thing I know he's yelling something about a hand written letter being his letterhead and as the director of his company he should be able to do something - change an address? I have no idea. The poor woman, I have seen her there before, and she's a slow speaker, was trying to explain and show the fine print where his letterhead needs to be official and printed and can't be hand written. The guy starts going off on "where in the australian constitution does it say that letterheads can't be hand written...each letterhead is unique...blah blah blah" I realised! He was American! Or may Canadian, but I can't imagine a Canadian guy screaming about law and crap. The poor woman went into the back and brought out the manager I think...
Luckily another teller opened up and it was my turn. My teller just looked miserably at the poor woman trying to help the other guy. I then gave him my envelop and asked...will his definitely be there by friday? As he gave me a stamp, he said, sure, it should be there by tomorrow...but then I asked him...are you sure? This needs to get there by Friday. I was trying my best to be threatening so that I could be sure that this application got to where it needed to go by friday...but he said, "we'll do our best". What more could I ask? I put the stamp on and dropped it into the red bin and poof! I was done - the application was out of my hands.
I looked back to the American guy at the counter and he was still there going on about an official letterhead...
One thing I've learned is that Aussies are sticklers for rules if there are any. They may be laid back and happy go lucky, but don't try to argue with them about what's already written on paper...
Geez...letterheads...dude...just go home and print one up on the computer.
Our New Apt
I realised that I never showed you the view from our new place! :) You can see the tips of the opera house, a bit of the bridge, sydney tower (yup, the ice cream bucket), and even the building Jackson works in. Isn't it great?
We've been organising our things and just got the last bits of our furniture this weekend. The place is coming together, so if you're in the area, you'll have a place to crash! :)
We're in the middle of it all - the city that is. I find it less intimidating to walk out at night, but more intimidating to drive. It's easier to find grocery stores, but they're more expensive. Whatever is bad about it, I still really like our apartment and the location.
Happy Australia Day!
Friday was Australia Day.
What is Australia Day? Good question...I asked around and no one really knew. They knew it was a public holiday that was celebrated with fireworks, BBQs and Beer. I think that really sums it up. But I looked it up online and this is what I found:
"On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation."
and I thought Australians said that Americans were more patriotic...anyway.
How did we spend Australia Day? Jackson's friend from high school, David, was visiting, so we all first went out for a round of golf, then we also stayed true to tradition and went out to a friend's BBQ, ate, drank (only one for me as I was the designated driver), and went out to watch the fireworks. :) Some other things that went on were: street fairs, boat races, canons firing..you get the idea. :)
New Years on the Gold Coast
So we rang in the new year on the Gold Coast with jackson's family. The exact details of our ringing was that we were sitting around the kitchen table, yes all 9 of us, playing cards and looked up at the clock and said, oh! Happy New Year! I can't complain! The weather was nice, if not on the chilly side, we played several rounds of golf. My sister-in-law and I would play in a golf cart - 9 holes, 18 holes it didn't matter, while the boys, Jackson, his brother and dad played on foot - we all took about the same time - we gals like to say that we got double the money's worth. :)
The other highlight of the new year was the fact that we got to see our nephew again! He's a doll, he really is. He's at that fun age when he responds to what you do, tries to copy it, and puts everything into his mouth. He had his baptism and Jackson and I are his godparents! Our nephew, Bryan, was all dressed up in his smart white suit and was a trooper throughout the entire event. Other Bryan highlights included the fact that he cut his first tooth while we were there, swims in the pool, and the first visit to the beach!
We got him all rugged up in his diving suit and had a blast in the pool. Of course when I played with him, he decided to get playful and splash and splash and splash...it was good fun!
The visit to the beach was hilarious. He really likes wind, and apparently loves the sand! At first, he wasn't sure how he felt about the sand, and then he ended up shovelling handfuls into his mouth - really funny. He also liked chasing sea gulls. :)
Also on the Gold Coast, we also got to catch up with some of Jackson's high school friends, which is always fun.
We had a good trip up there filled with rest and relaxation...
Christmas in Hawaii
(Now that I'm back connected to the world, I'll try to catch you up)
We spent a wonderful week in Oahu with my side of the family. It was so nice to have everyone together in one place where the beaches were beautiful, weather perfect, and company ideal.
Jackson and I got to Ko Olina first after our 9.5 hours flying there, we found out that our rooms weren't ready yet, my parents were going to get in later that afternoon, and that there was a driving range right across the way! So...we gave our things to the bellhop, grabbed a bite to eat a cafe on the beach, and just as we were about to fall asleep (jetlag), we decided to go to the range and hit some balls. Be it because of the long flight, or just general fatigue, I hit terribly.
We made it back to the main building and waited till we got our rooms - which we did. Then I fell deep asleep to CSI Miami. Luckily I woke up to find out that my parents were on the way up! With...Jackson's Christmas present that I had ordered for him from the U.S. Long story short, I had argued with the golf website that Hawaii was a part of the US and that I should ge free shipping, but instead they gave me a discount on Hawaii shipping - who would have known that shipping to hawaii or alaska would have been that much more complicated. Anyway...the clubs came and apparently I was a good wiffie.
Anyway, the following evening my sister came into town and we spent the days lounging on the beach, going to the range, and looking around Oahu, went to Pearl Harbor, and met up with a friend of ours from HBS.
It was so much fun that the night before we were set to leave, I had an emotional breakdown - I wasn't ready to say good bye again...it was really tough. It was just so nice being in the U.S. be it Hawaii with people familiar and places familiar.
The good news is that I think my family may be coming soon to visit us in Sydney! Fingers crossed!
