Christmas photos

Some Christmas pics up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/66099107@N00/ - again don't forget they are back to front.

Christmas down under

A very merry Christmas to you all – hope you and yours are happy and healthy. I’ve had a lovely Christmas, far from home and the familiar, but making do all the same. My housemate Jaya and I went for a walk on Christmas morning to Rushcutter’s Bay, about 5 minutes walk from the house – it’s a cute little bay peppered with sailing boats, and has a great view across the harbour to the harbour bridge and the opera house (I’ll put some pics on flickr tomorrow) – we soaked up the sea breeze and caught some sun before going back home and making a feast for our guests.

An orphans’ Christmas is quite a tradition in Oz, for people not at home with families for whatever reason, so we opened our doors to Jaya’s friend Ruci, her boyfriend Josh, her sister Padma, Padma’s Swedish boyfriend Povell, and their friend Lotus. (Yeah, I know, does anyone have normal names here?!) Oh yeah and there was Sam too, he has a normal name. Jaya and I made lots of salads, I made spinach and feta filo parcels (from Helen’s photocopied recipe – thanks!) and Jaya tried out her new food processor and made hummus and a beetroot dip. Yum. Plus I’d made a whole load of chocolate mousse the night before and made a summer fruit crumble. Oh and we had lots of delicious avocado, mango, cherries, and other great summer food. So I spent the day doing what I love best – cooking for people! And the company was worth it – we just hung around and chilled out, chatting about anything and everything. It was great that no-one present put a great weight on it being Christmas day – we just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company, eating and drinking and talking nonsense! Now the house is finally empty and I’m shattered. I think I’ll turn in soon, as we’re planning on doing the clifftop walk from Bondi to Coogee tomorrow so I need my rest. Looking forward to some more sea air.

Thanks to everyone for the Christmas cards and messages, I’ll reply individually over the next few days. I’ve been picturing you all in your various situations around the world, and it’s lovely to hear from you and feel connected.

(By the way, if anyone called or texted my UK mobile – it’s totally dead, so I won’t have got your message. I’m trying to resurrect it but don’t hold out much hope.)

Love,
cx

Nightmare bug experience No.1

Ok well for the first time I feel I may have made a mistake. A recent experience was almost a deal-breaker. I was this close to getting on the first plane home. And when I shared it with my Aussie friends they laughed and said 'Get used to it'. I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO GET USED TO BUGS! They are horrid.

Anyway, the following story may disturb you if you don't like bugs, so take that as a warning.

Earlier this week I got into bed - about midnight, was dropping off to sleep, and I felt a tickling on my leg, but ignored it for a bit. It persisted, and I thought I might have a little spider or something in my bed, so might have to get rid of it. I turned my lamp on and lifted up the sheet, and... {urgh} it's making me shudder just thinking about it.... There was a big fat cockroach sharing my bed with me. ARGH. I was out of there in a flash. How the hell did it get into my bed?!?!?! And reader, they make the most disgusting noise...

I didn't know what to do - it was 1am and my housemates were asleep - I was feeling sickened by the whole experience. I went to have a shower, and put a sheet on the sofa ready to sleep there. Went back upstairs to see if I could trap it somehow and it was now on the landing, so I put a big bowl over it and went to sleep on the sofa. Well, I didn't get much sleep because I felt icky and traumatised and every little noise made me jump. I can deal with spiders, and pretty much any bug, but cockroaches are really really disgusting.

Anyway, apparently they are really common in Sydney, and THEY HAVE WINGS! Why did I not know this??? That's how it got into my room - it will have flown through the window which I conveniently left open for it. Rachel says we don't get them in the house much, but they are quite common here and are not a sign of dirt like in some other countries, they are just everywhere. And it will get worse as it gets hotter... That's why I called this post 'No.1', as I'm sure this was the first of many bug experiences.

So since then I've been sleeping with the light on and the window shut (yuck, it's so stuffy), and am becoming really paranoid. I've never been scared of bugs like this but they are really grim.

Sorry to share this with you but I feel it has been a defining moment in my Australian education.

Apart from that things are good - will update on the non-bug aspects of life this weekend.

Hope everyone's well and bug-free.
cx

Keeping healthy…

Judging by the emails I’ve received lately, I seem to have inadvertently sown some seeds of misconception regarding my lifestyle here in Oz. Despite my enthusiasm for the Christmas party season, I am also finding my little healthy pleasures, creating a mini-Stoke Newington vibe right here in Darlinghurst. I’ve found my local swimming pool – a fantastic Olympic sized pool called Cook and Philip Park (although apparently there’s a nickname for it coined by the locals who use it as a pick up joint, but that’s unrepeatable here as young cousins are reading). This has been the scene of my morning swim, and it makes my old pool in Covent Garden look like someone’s bathtub.

I’ve also discovered the ‘Fresh n Wild’ equivalent, which is called Macro. It’s a lovely health food shop in Bondi junction and stocks all the usual eco washing up stuff, hummus and wheat free museli etc – home from home! I’m having to totally re-educate myself though when it comes to food miles – I’ve always tried to buy food as locally sourced as possible so my food hasn’t emitted loads of carbon flying round the world – but of course even ‘Italy’ isn’t in any way local any more, and I’m scrutinising unfamiliar packages for the ‘Australian made’ signs, although lots of them are very confusing as they feature ‘Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients’ Hmmm. Why not just put ‘Made in Australia from ingredients’? Anyway, you can get pretty much everything you need and source it from Australia, and I have to say the mangoes and avocados here are like none I have ever tasted in my life – they are delicious, and in season, so everywhere at the moment. I think I might overdose!

I’m on my laptop at the moment, in bed, it’s almost midnight, and I’m listening to Mark Kermode on the podcast – my little link with the UK – it’s like I can carry Kermode in my pocket even on the other side of the world. What a lovely thought.

Night night.
cx

Work hard play harder

I think I can safely say that it’s not the best idea in the world to go out and get trashed at a Christmas party the night before an 8am meeting with the SFF board to discuss the marketing and sponsorship strategy for 2007. But I think I got away with it. Well, it’s been quite a week – sorry for the gap between postings, but there’s been a lot going on. I’ll do a whistle-stop tour for you now, skip to the end if it’s not riveting enough…

So firstly I went to the dogs for the ABC Christmas do (Aussie equivalent of the BBC) – and after some tame old $1 bets (40p) I discovered the art of the quinella (betting on first and second place) – and won half of my money back – not bad. I arrived at the track with Clare and we stuck out like sore thumbs – there were some seasoned track-attenders there, eating their pie and chips and studying the form guides. I was brave and went up to an old couple and asked them to explain the form guide to me, which was very complicated. Needless to say I ignored all of that and resorted to picking dogs by their names and colours (well I am a girl) and it served me well. Cool Miss was my biggest win. (See pics on flickr)

The lovely Dominic was in town, en route to Cairns, so I had dinner with him last week too, in a divine little Bavarian seafood restaurant on Oxford Street (yes, another London street!). It was good to catch up with him and talk the usual crap, although having someone from my ‘old life’ appear in my ‘new’ one was a little disconcerting. Especially as he just turned up at work one day unannounced, and I heard his booming voice over the filing cabinets! But it was a fine excuse to bunk off work for the afternoon and have a 'meeting' which involved sitting in my local pub. Sometimes it’s great to relax and stop having to make an effort though, because you’re constantly concerned about the impression you’re making to people you’ve just met. Anyway, Marisa, Dom looks well you’ll be pleased to know – blurry pic on flickr.

Next up was the FFC Christmas party on Wednesday – they are the main funders of films in Australia, so all the major players in the industry were there, along with lots of hot young filmmakers and producers. It was in a lovely terrace bar overlooking Darling Harbour, with lots of free champagne and oysters – yum. Considering I knew no-one I made a pretty good effort of working the room. Being new to the country does have its advantages, you have lots to talk about and people are falling over themselves to give you advice on how to survive Sydney. I met some really lovely people and had a sizeable collection of business cards at the end of the night, which through my champagne fug scribbled notes on to remember who the hell these people were (god I sound like such a pro!). Of course it does help somewhat being introduced to everyone as ‘the girl we’ve snaffled from the hands of Sandra Hebron much to the annoyance of everyone in London and the glee of everyone in Sydney’ etc etc. My reputation goes before me. Now all I have to do is live up to it. And they seem to expect great things of us, these Sydneysiders, in rescuing their beloved film festival and turning round its fortunes. Just give us time.

Not content with champagne and oysters, I stumbled out with some new found friends who were celebrating receiving major funding for their feature, and ended up in a Darlinghurst pizza place until the wee hours… This was before the aforementioned board meeting, where I took more interest than usual in the coffee and croissants while attempting to sound lucid and intelligent. Do you think I had ‘em fooled, folks?

To cure my hangover, I decided to go out with my housemates and chums to their regular haunt, The Gaslight (think Camden meets Soho) and succumbed to their collective decision to follow the pub with some dancing at the Flinders. Hmmm, I suspect that may also become a regular haunt, what fun.

Double hangover on Friday – I expected a quiet night in, but was unexpectedly invited to the Australian premiere of Babel, with the gorgeous Cate Blanchett in attendance, and yet more of the Aussie film glitterati. Red carpet Oz style. Great film but a little disturbing. Wandered along the harbour on the way home, past the Opera House, and soaked up the sea air. Enjoying my new city.

Weekend was chilled out (phew!). Spent almost all of my first wage packet on beautiful Elle Macpherson underwear (do we even have that in the UK?!) And now have a chocca week before Christmas. Can’t wait to chill out in the sun over Christmas. Will take lots of pics. Not that it’s been very sunny – everyone’s complaining that I’ve brought the English weather with me, as it’s been pretty miserable in Sydney lately. Well, miserable is 20-something degrees, so don’t take it too literally…

Ok, have bored you all for long enough now. Will try to write more regularly so it’s not so much of an essay.

Love to all and hope you’ve finished your Christmas shopping.

cx

Little things…

It’s quite surprising how ‘foreign’ Australia seems – I was expecting it to feel just like home – another English speaking Western country – but nothing is familiar and there are loads of things that throw me.

1) Everyone pronounces my name properly! It’s great – even without me saying it first. Hallelujah.
2) The bleeping things at pedestrian crossings are hilarious – I keep expecting Pulp’s ‘Common People’ to blare out…
3) It’s warm in the evenings, people spill out of bars onto the streets, sitting at outside tables, and there are Christmas decorations everywhere – I can’t describe how odd and incongruous this looks… I just don’t feel festive at all because it’s so sunny, and I keep getting confused when people talk about Christmas being close. I guess this will help me not miss home so much over the festive period.
4) Lots of the buildings look like they either belong in Bath or Bristol, or they should be in some one-horse hick town in an old Western movie. Very ornate and ‘New England’. Will upload pics to illustrate.
5) A ‘long black’ is a black Americano.
6) Everywhere is named after somewhere in London. It’s really disorienting because loads of place names are familiar, but totally geographically different. So Oxford Street is parallel to Liverpool Street, which are both just south of King’s Cross, which is north-west of Paddington - it’s soooo confusing! I’m amazed I find my way to work every day.

And more, but gotta go, am off to Bondi to check out the markets.

(PS some pics are up - check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/66099107@N00/ - but bear in mind they are in the opposite order to the order I uploaded them in, so work backwards so to speak.)

cx

Settling in

Well it’s been raining all weekend – home from home! I can’t believe I left almost all my winter clothes behind – it’s quite cold. Hmmm. I left my boots, my winter coats, my jumpers – everything! Actually, now that I’m here and trying to set up a place that feels like home, I’ve realised that I’ve totally brought all the wrong things with me. Oh, to start my packing over again!

So, to update, I’ve found a place to live – in Darlinghurst, really central, and it’s a lovely three-bed terrace house. It’s about a 20 minute walk to work, so I should get to know the city pretty quickly, and it’s near loads of great cafes, restaurants, delis, boutiques, and of course late night drinking and dancing establishments. Hurrah. My housemates both seem really lovely – both very fashionable girls – they’ve already taken me under their wing and took me to a party last night so I met lots of other friendly stylish types. Plus I went to a film distributor’s Christmas party on Thursday so I’m slowly widening my net of contacts. It’s a great time of year to be new in town – everyone’s having their Christmas party. I shall just have to go to all of them, and attempt to remember everyone’s name.

Work’s good so far – will update more on that another time – and I’ve done all the other boring things like got an Australian mobile phone, a bank account (soooo easy!), and taken the obligatory trip to IKEA to make my little unfurnished room look less bare.

So, a week in and am still so excited about getting to know this great city/country – starting with my local area. The coffee’s great, the weather’s lovely, and the people are chilled.

More anon,
cx