Whose coming to visit me?

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Requesting an order of 4th of July garb

A small request if you will. What kind of advocate for the US would I be without celebrating a great summer patriotic holiday?! We are having a 4th of July party here and I need some American 4th of July paraphernalia. I know you are all wild supporters of my theme parties but please refrain from including any explosives in the package. Large marshmallows and graham crackers will do along with any other cheesy 4th of July decor that you can think of.  I will pay you back when I see you for sending the package. The more crazy crap the better! They don’t have marshmallow anything here so please feel free to send those jet puffed loves along. It would be easiest if you sent it to my work address.  Email me if you have any extra things to pass along to me before the grand day and I will send it to you. Thanks for supporting the fun!

Sunday: A good game of footie!

The fun continues! Today was a day of sport. Football is huge in Australia. There are 4 types of football: 1. Soccer 2. Rugby League 3. Rugby National 4. Australian Football League (AFL). Tricia, Michael, and the third wheel (me!) all went to the AFL game. It is a game with about 50 men running around the biggest field you have every seen, at lightening speed, with no rules. They don’t wear any padding or gear and they wrestle each other to the ground, throw, kick, and run the ball as fast as possible. The stadium is a cricket ground and the goals are similar to the game Quidditch in Harry Potter. It felt like a Harry Potter to be honest. It was super fun and the Sydney Swans won the game in the last quarter. I had my red and white scarf on and I could easily become a fan.

However, the biggest win was introducing the turkey breast.
Turkey Breast: (.n) A move of emphatic fist pumping with an over bite while bobbing your head rhythmically. turkey breasting (v.), double turkey breast (n.)
Sentence: Tricia did the turkey breast to support the Swanies when they beat the bombers.

Here are some pics of the game below. Go Swanies!


We have a World Cup pool running at work right now and my team draw was Italy. Viva Italia!

Saturday: Time FLIES when you are having fun

Blue sky. Exactly what the doctor ordered for the sky dive. I was so happy in the morning that I forgot to wash the conditioner out of my hair because I was in such a rush to get to the train station to meet Marjolein. We were calling her Margerine like the fake butter that everyone should stop eating immediately because it rots your insides because we did not know how to pronounce her name. Marjoleine is pronounced Maraline. We took a train ride to Wollongong which was along the coast and was gorgeous. I got yelled at for having my sneakers on the seat in front of me. Rude Americans…can’t take them anywhere.
When we arrived at this little shack next to a park we knew that we were in for a wild ride. 8 jumpers signed our lives away (see below) and got on our gear.

 Marjoleine and I were laughing because we were in blue and yellow suits. We joked that we were like Swedish Meatballs from IKEA falling from the sky. I was so slow getting my gear on that I ended up with an XL which made it even more attractive. Have no fear, there was a big XL on my sleeve to prove that it was the size that I had on. The guys that were jumping had a big S on their sleeve because they were little pee wees. Sky diving is not an ego boost. You look ridiculous, you have this harness on that rides up every crevice of your body and you are strapped to a stranger.  The picture below only has us half dressed.  Imagine having this harness strapped to your booty.

As we were getting ready to board the plane…the black clouds of rain rolled in. Down pouring. We were laughing because of course it was down pouring. 8 jumpers and 8 hung over tandem instructors boarded this little puddle jumper. If you are claustrophobic, NEVER skydive. Here is why. You sit in two single file rows between each others legs and strapped to the guy behind you with no where to turn. Marjoleine and I were laughing and very calm through the whole process but other people were hyperventilating, swearing, saying they were going to crap their pants, etc. I was actually surprised at how calm I was. It may be because my instructor (Tall Aussie guy named Wade) gave me instructions for the 5th time but poor Marojleine’s guy Pauly was falling asleep due to too much partying the night before. It was really hilarious. Pauly wanted to kill me because on this tight small plane I kept yelling things like “Canonballlll! Boooombs Awaaaay! Giranomoooo!” We thought it was so funny but the rest of the sardines were not amused. Don’t worry, you will see it all on tape. I got a DVD which is not attractive at all but is really pretty funny. The plane door opened and all we could see was white cloud. I was still calm. The first tandem jumpers launched out the door. In the DVD you see my face go from excited to pure fear. The next 2 go in about 5 seconds and then it was my turn. Fortunately, I had no time to think because Wade said 1,2 and I held my breath like I was jumping into water. Stupid move because we were out the door and no one told me that there was no oxygen in clouds. I was in my banana position and we were hurling at 233 km/hr down to planet earth. It felt like pins and needles going through the cloud. I couldn’t breath but didn’t care. You will see me grasping for air but it was so much fun. Once we got out of the cloud he pulled the chute and I could see the beach. Wait until you see it. I don’t have any pictures because if I dropped my camera I could have killed someone if it had landed on them. Bugger! The landing was smooth for me. I watched someone land in a mud puddle and another in the bushes. Wade took good care of me. It was everything I wanted it to be and more.

I am going to try to do it again when the sun is shining. Yes, I will be talking all of you into skydiving with me when I return to the US. Get ready…it is unbelievable!

The EF Universal Sport

As many of you know, EF is a bit like going back to college.  Team building activities, people from different countries and places all together as though we have known each other all our lives, trivia games,  costumes, and a lot of heavy drinking are a few things that take place.  Work hard, play hard is surely a motto that we hold near and dear.  No matter how big or small the event may be or what country the EF crew is partying in there is only one clear choice of fun for all....bowling.  The Sydney office is no different.  We were divided into teams by color, created a mascot for each team, dressed the part, and played a competitve game of EF trivia.  Naturally, I am team yellow sporting the t-shirt that I bought for the previous EF dress up part (Swedish Midsummer) and we WON the trivia but it is clear that I still suck at bowling.  Everyone thinks that because I am American I should have mastered the sport but what people don't understand is that the bowling alley is not the "coolest" place to be found over the age of 8 and under the age of 65.  Check out the teams:

Jim Gaffigan does a skit on bowling that is so funny that I have to share.  Here are some pics of the blessed event.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jYfxr1dgV0

Even though bowling is not on my top 10 list of things to do it was so much fun.  These fun, hilarious carefree events make EF unique from other companies.  We lost this a bit in Boston this year but Sydney is going strong and it is really makes a difference in staff morale and in commitment to each other and the company overall.  Lots 'o fun!

The social wombat

Today my colleague brought to my attention that even in a foreign country with a bunch of strangers I cannot fight my need to jam pack my schedule full of social activites and rally everyone I see (and cannot see due to poor vision) to join me.  I guess I can dare to say that no matter what continent I am on... I am the ring leader.  I have managed to rally a team of 6 people to go dinner for half-price mussels and beer in 5 short minutes,  invited myself to a private live showing of the musical coming out in London named Tap Dogs on Friday, convince a Dutch girl who does not know me to spend $400.00 and jump out of a plane this Saturday (it is booked and we are good to go),  persuaded my co-worker and her husband to bring me to an AFL Sydney Swans game on Sunday, rallied all the girls in the office to see Sex and the City 2 on Monday,  AND got Jan Cuke, crazy neighbor Jane, and Simone to go see some drama playing at the Opera house on Tuesday.   These poor suckers don't even know what hit them.   They don't have a fighting chance.  ;)

Here are some pics of the glorious mussels.  They are so delicious.  I am obsessed with food.  I know.

Little fishy

Now I am working on the water safety module for the incoming au pairs and look at this adorable picture I found.  :) So cute!