December 13, 2009

Hello Everyone!
We've been in Australia for 10 days! I can't believe we made it all the way here! Our flight was long but we got to sleep and watch movies so it wasn't that bad. We are staying with our friends Eben and Dannii - they have a house here in Melbourne. The weather has been nice so far - 60's or 70's with a few days of clouds and rain. We have met most of Dannii's family and they have all been really friendly and welcoming to us.
Today we went to Dannii's parents for lunch. They had a spit last night for a party that they roasted chicken and lamb on - so today we got to have the leftovers! It was so good! We made gyros which they call suvlaki (not sure if I spelled that right). Dannii made roasted potatoes (regular and sweet) which were delicious too. Then we had cannollis and tea because they had some of those leftover too. Needless to say we were stuffed! We got our Christmas tree today too and we just finished decorating.
On Friday we had our first fish and chips experience. Except the fish is actually shark and the chips are french fries and potato cakes. We also got some other various fried things that everyone said we had to try. It was good - it was a big pile of fried food which we love so how could we go wrong!
I got a job at a cafe in the mall called Centre Perk. I worked Thursday night and now I am waiting to hear what my schedule will be like this week. The bus stop is a five second walk from their house and it goes straight to the mall. Eric is still looking for a job so hopefully he will find one soon!
They drive on the other side of the road and the other side of the car which was so weird at first but now I am getting used to it. I don't think I will be driving here though - too scary. We drove to the ocean our first day here but it was really windy and we were basically getting sandblasted. We will go back again though. There is also a dog beach where Eben and Dannii sometimes take their two dogs Hank and Bowser. We will probably go there too.
They have McDonalds here but they call it Mackers except with an accent it sounds like Mackas. I am compiling a list of things they say differently than Americans and I will post that soon!
I tried to upload some videos but it wasn't working so I will have to fiddle with it and see what I can do.
Merry Christmas Everyone!!
Keep checking up and I will try to post frequently!