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Monkeys and Sausages

The biggest difference in Australian English is all the abbreviations. Everything is shortened. Jeff bought me a book about Australian language and culture and it has actually been quite helpful. I've already heard a lot of words that the book had listed, such as:

brekkie - breakfast

sunnies - sunglasses

barbie - barbecue

cardie - cardigan

goalie - goalkeeper

jarmies - pyjamas

postie - mail deliverer

sparkie - electrician

kindy - kindergarden

arvo - afternoon

avo - avocado

rego - registration

The book also says: "Nicknames are all but compulsory in Australia and only rarely will a person be called by their given name." This is very true. Rebecca would be Beck or Becky, Lachlan Lachie or Lacho, Matthew Matty, Joanna Jo, Michael Mike or Micky... And It's not always about shortening the name, sometimes the nickname is longer, as in John would be Johnno.

Noah and Felix don't really have nicknames but Maya is sometimes called missy or missy moo like are a lot of little girls here. Jade and Jorja have a lot of nicknames, the most common ones are probably Jadie and Jorjie. Or monkeys. Sausage is also a nickname for a little child. At first it sounded really weird but now I think it's actually really cute. Timothy would probably be the king of nicknames: Tim, Timy, Timtam, Timo, Timomatic... And the Finnish one that I gave him - Timppa.

I've only come accross a few words that have a different meaning or are completely different. The woods is called the bush and hiking is more often referred to as bushwalking. I did have a situation that could have been quite funny if Hannah hadn't been handing me her flip-flops as she said that I could borrow her thongs... XD

xo.

Mily (my new Australian nickname)

ZOO, Swimming and Other Stuff

This week has been absolutely wonderful! It's the school holidays so we've been up to all sorts of fun stuff. I've also spent a little more time with the Sharpe's.

On Monday I had a lovely time drinking ice chocolate and playing tennis with the kids' nana (grandmother) and her lady friends. I went so that she could give me some pointers for my netball game the next day.

On Tuesday we had a massive water fight with Noah and Maya. Then we packed up scooters and a netball in the car and went to Lapstone courts to throw the ball and scooter around. In the evening I had my first netball game. First time ever playing netball and it was an actual game. I was a bit overwhelmed trying to play and get the hang of all the rules at the same time but I think I did ok.. I was WD = wing defense. Hopefully I'll get to play the same position next week or I'll just be even more confused :D Luckily my team's very nice!

Wednesday was probably the high light of the week. The Sharpe family took me along to the ZOOOO - more precisely Taronga Zoo in Sydney. I'll just let the picture do the talking:

Timomatic and Bryan

:Snake

The Giraffe house

A giraffe in the city.

The most adorable animals on the planet: Meerkats

Yay, face paint!

My best friends Jorja and Jade. Oh and the city skyline.

The heartwarming sight of elephants having fun together in the water.

Seal Show

A wallaby. I think. Or is it a kangaroo..?

There are at least four different species of kangaroo.
Wondering which one's meat they sell in the stores.. :D

Enjoying the skyrail ride.

A big thank you to Josey for these photos!!

On Thursday we went for a swim in the Springwood inside pool. They'd opened the water slide as a school holiday special. I had fun playing in the water with the girls. We tried putting Timy in the water too but he really didn't think that was a good idea.

On Friday we took Maya with us and went to the Jellybean pool in the national park for a swim. A lot of water play this week. I also had dinner with the Sharpe's for the first time. We ate fajitas and had ice cream for dessert. Yummy!

I ended up looking at pictures form Finland this week and felt a bit teary as I realized how long it's actually going to be till I see my family and friends again. Luckily I'm having the time of my life here so I didn't feel too bad.

xo.
Emilia

Burning off Breakfast at the Beach

Burning off

I got a couple of worried texts from my family about the bush fires that were out of control yesterday. I saw a lot of smoke but they weren't near enough to be of any danger. Scary things though, bush fires. Sometimes I forget how safe Finland is. No bush fires, no earthquakes, no floods, no highly venomous animals, no sharks... Just a bit of slippery ice in winter :D

Bush fires are very common in Australia. Before summer there are a lot of hazard reduction burn offs. Meaning they deliberately start a fire in controlled conditions to burn off bush so that in summer there will be less bush to burn. Making a fire to avoid one. Clever.

Glenbrook village and burn-off smoke

Breakfast

I was warned about Australians being morning people. That is very true. You don't necessarily need to wake up super early but when you do you get up and get going. It's not at all unusual to meet up with your friends for breakfast. I've done that a couple of times already and it was actually really nice :)

I've been eating very healthy but breakfast has been the one meal that I've managed to indulge in every once in a while. Pancakes, ice cream, French toast... Yum yum! I should have taken pictures, I know :c

Beach

Last weekend we went to Maroubra beach. The weather was beautiful and the waves were amazing. Luckily the Australian winter is over and the spring here is like Finnish summer. Not complaining. Not at all.

The title was a bit misleading as I haven't really done any sports since my arrival. That'll change soon though as I've taken up netball! It starts in two weeks. I'll try to write a few times before that though...

xx.

Em

Sunday Funday

Today was a good day. Kids had been invited to a birthday party and I got to tag along as the party was held in a skate park. Kids had a 1-hour "ride with a pro" and I got to watch all the unbelievable tricks he did with his scooter. Just wow. The food - especially the chocolate cake - was also really good so I was extra happy.

Kids and The PRO

After the birthday party we walked across the road to Skoda Stadium to watch an AFL game - the only game in the world where you get points for almost scoring a goal! The field was almost round which was interesting. After the game people got to go on the field. There was a band playing and AFL balls flying everywhere. The atmosphere was amazing!

Fangirling

Cheeeeese!

Falling asleep.. Now Zzzz..

Ems

Enjoying and Adapting

I've been here for two weeks now and already feel like home. On my free time I'm still a bit at a loss. I love my peace and quiet and need my own time but doing stuff such as going to the movies, shopping or having lunch in a cafe alone just feels plain weird and lonely. But no worries! I'm sure I'll have friends soon. I've already made plans for next weekend with a girl my age that even lives on the same street! Can't wait :)

Me and Maya at Glenbrook park

Few of the things I've ENJOYED:

• Social and talkative people
• Playing with the kids
• Good food - Especially today! Felix's soccer team came over before their game and we had a pancake breakfast. There were so many toppings to choose from... yam yam!
• The nature and the animals - It's all so different here. I still haven't seen a kangaroo or a koala (*tears*) but even the birds have gotten me excited here. Oh, I did see an opossum right above my door one evening! And sometimes you can hear them screaming on the roof in the early hours..
• Speaking English - I've been pretty confident about my skills and I'm glad I've been able to keep up so well. Understandably understanding is a lot easier than talking yourself but I'm sure it will get easier soon too. It's nice to be able to talk a lot of Finnish as well though!
• Fridays with homemade pizza and a movie

Boys swinging in the back forest

Things that need(ed) a little ADAPTING:

• The wrong - sorry "left" - side traffic (slowly starting to feel right) - I'm always trying to go the wrong way in escalators. Oops! Driving the car doesn't scare me anymore. I got the hang of it pretty quickly. Going routes that I don't know yet on the other hand.. I'm known for my bad sense of direction.
• The changes in temperature during the day - It's freezing in the morning, hot during the day and then freezing again. How many times do I need to change my clothes?
• Freezing inside the house - The heating here is poor since it's only needed for a short period of time. But stillll, come ooon! It is NEEDED. It's uncomfortable for a Finn that's used to feeling warm inside the house. Electric blanket is my savior though so no worries. I'll manage :D
• Different currency - Not necessarily the prices but recognizing the bills and coins when trying to pay something...
• Being so far away from my family and friends - Especially when the time difference makes Skyping a bit challenging. I miss everyone but luckily I don't feel homesick :)

The families I'm working with are amazing! All of the kids have wonderful personalities and the parents are very considerate and encouraging. Couldn't have hoped for anything better!

xx.

Ems

Here I am!

I made it to the other side of the Globe on Tuesday after about 32 hours of travelling. (To be clear: it was still Monday in Finland since the time difference is 7h) Was it worth it?  OH YEAH! All the people here are so nice and welcoming and I get on with the kids really well. I still haven't taken it all in. Even the fact that I'm really here has taken me some time to really wrap my head around :D Next Monday I start working for real and then I can start getting use to the routines and properly settle in, I guess.

I'm doing Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays with the half Finnish family that I live with and Tuesdays and Wednesday with the neighbors. The neighbors moved here from South Africa about 8 years ago and they have three children. Two young girls and a baby boy that I mainly take care of. He's a lovely boy and such an easy happy baby.

I still haven't made any friends outside the families as I haven't really left the house by myself yet. There's a bike that I can use and I think the train station is within walking distance so I can go to Penrith and Sydney if I want to. I'm probably going to take up some sports to make friends and keep myself in shape :D Right now I'm thinking Australian Touch Football. We'll see.

GILBERT - my new best friend

SYLVIA, GLODIE OR BRONZIE - can't tell them apart yet

xx.
Ems