Maria Sharapova, 4th seed, women's singles. We seem to have alot of pictures of her. Probably because Jake had the camera.

Rach enjoying the sun. We're in between sets here, taking a break.

Mike and Bob Bryan - Men's Doubles

Aussie Open

Hi Again,
Well, we just got home from the Open and had a great day. The weather was sunny and the tennis was amazing. We saw four matches and had great seats. We arrived about 1/2 hour before the gates opened and we were able to score seats close to the court. We saw a 3rd round men's doubles match with the Mike and Bob Bryan from the USA. We saw Linsday Davenport and her partner play in a 3rd round women's doubles match. Then we saw the number 4 seed in the world, Maria Sharapova play in a 4th round singles match. Lastly, the fourth seed men's player, Marat Safin. The Men's Doubles was the funnest to watch. Lots of action and the American boys were very funny on the court.

The kids both had fun as well. They both wanted to come back tommorow and Rachel wants to start playing tennis. The tennis grounds were very nice. They have centre court and four other large arenas. Then, there were 22 other courts, where Junior and qualifying matches are played and some of the players practice. Of course there were lots of tennis related merchandising booths everywhere.

The tennis was incredible, though. They hit the ball so hard and the crowd really gets into it. Some of the fans carried their country's flags and had signs. It was exactly like what you see on tv. I feel for the line judges,though. I think they have the worst job. I have no idea how they can tell if a ball going 200 km/h is in or out. Of course Rachel and Ben want to be Ball Runners. I guess we'll have to look into that for next year. I don't think they are old enough, though.

It was great fun! Anyways, the pictures are posted so enjoy!
Jen :)

Oceanside Beach at the Twelve Apostles 3 hours west of the city. Since the ozone layers sucks, most people wear hats.

Mornington Peninsula - More of our great beaches!!!

St Kilda Beach by the city. Its about 10 minutes from downtown and 20 from our house. Lots restaurants. On sundays they have a big arts and crafts market.

Its a mish mash of topics

Okay, the clothes are folded and ironed. Jake can put them away. As soon as I walked away from the computer, I remembered other things to mention. SO... I'm back.

Okay, first of all, the most exciting new of all... Jake and I have a babysitter!!!! Joy to the world! Yes, we had our first night out last night. We went downtown to the Crown Casino for a Nike party. During the open, Nike rents out the spa there as a reception area for the athletes. And, last night the the employees had a rager there! It was very fun and there was alot of drinking. Not by me personally, although I did have few. The spa was cool because it had all the clothes for the nike sponsored athletes. They can come in and pick what they want. Hats, shoes, shirts, short, etc. Boxes of clothes everywhere. Unfortunately there were no famous people there but we still had fun.

Okay now onto another completely unrelated topic. Cricket. Another first for us. We went to our first cricket match the day after christmas. I still don't understand the game but its very much like going to a baseball game. Now, imagine the baseball game only had one inning. Not a full inning just a half. So, the other team never gets to bat. They are always on defense. And that half went from 10:30am to dusk. Remember, its summer here, so that means 9pm. Now, there really is no action, like baseball. Although, every once in awhile something exciting happens but you miss it since you were dozing off. You do get a great sun tan, though, you can bring your own food and drink and you bring that novel you've been trying to get through. Its also a great time to catch up with friends! See, just like sitting in the outfield seats of a baseball game.

Actually we had a great time. We cheered on the drunk aussies as they were kicked out of the stadium by the police. We did the wave, counter clockwise. (Everything is backwards here) We also had a nice, fairly cheap day out. So, we'll probably do it again next year. But, maybe drive. As every couple hours they have a 30 minutes break and everyone goes out to their cars to tailgate. So, for those of you visiting next Christmas get ready for some real family fun!!!!

Now another thing I have been wanting to talk about is Aussie TV. I love it here. Not as many channels but in addition to Aussie shows we also get the shows from the US. Reality TV is just as popular here but I lean more towards any version of Law and Order. Because the seasons are opposite most shows come on about 4-5 months later than in the US. The exception so far has been the Apprentice and Survivior which simultaneously air with the US. Anyways, when we first got here we saw the final episodes of Friends and Sex and the City. And, here Sex and the City is uncut on regular TV. In fact they don't seem to cut anything out of any shows or movies. They display the show's rating before it airs, so if its 'M', for mature audiences we know that the kids shouldn't watch. Its also great because the commercial breaks are short. You can't really surf at commercial time.

So far, the funniest thing I have seen on tv has been the Naked News. Its on the comedy channel, so Jake and I thought that it would be similar to Jon Stewart's , The Daily News. But that was not the case. We turned it on and as the women broadcasters, read about the events of the day in a very serious newslike way. They begain to undress so that by the end of the show they were completely naked. Thus, the naked news. I should have been suspicious when all of the newswomen had rally large knockers. Needless to say, Jake thinks its a great show and I haven't watched it since. Really, Janet's one boob was nothing compared to this. I am thinking this is one aussie show that won't make it to the states.

The last topic.... BEACHES. We have lots of great beaches here. Beautiful beaches. Because, Melbourne is at the top of bay, you can go to the bayside beaches which are warmer and have little surf. These are great for kids. Or, you can go to the oceanside beaches where the water is cooler but you can surf. You can also snorkel and scuba. We do have some sharks but also dolphins and seals and penguins. One of these weekends we are going to go on a boat trip and snorkel with the dolphins. The best thing is its only an hour and a half away!

So, we have become beach junkies. We have been going every weekend. We can get to a bayside beach within 20-30 minutes from our house. Its great. We pack a lunch, snacks and swimsuits and head out for a few hours. Its fantastic. I also can't wait to try some surfing and diving. Its one my to do list but may have to wait until I quit work. Which probably be in August/September.

We have decided that the first year here is our money making year and the second will be our travelling year. This is due to the fact that Jake is working on a major project this year. Next year he'll actually be able to take more days off from work.

Now I think I am done.
Enjoy!
Jenny :)

It's been awhile!

Okay....it has been awhile, but we have been busy and working fulltime keeps me even busier. Anyways, its a quiet Saturday afternoon. Jake is in the city at NikeTown working at a charity fundraiser for the Tsunami. The kids are on the deck painting, my house is clean, the laundry is going, so.... I thought I better get blogging!!!!

So, we recovered from New Year's and Christmas. The season for the aussies seems to run from the week prior to Christmas through the second week of Jan. Since its summer, everyone is on holiday and the city is pretty quiet. At least that is until the 2nd week of Jan when the Australian Open kicks off!!!

Now the city is buzzing. All the tennis players are here and everyone is going to see "the tennis" as they call it. You don't go the open or the Aussie Open. You go to "the tennis". So tommorow we are going to "the tennis". I bought a family grounds pass which pretty gets us into any match except those on center court. I guess the tickets on center court sell quickly so next year we'll have to plan early. I am so excited though! The weather should be warm and we are going to pack a picnic lunch. I can't wait. If you are a tennis fan, this is definitely a great time of year to be here.

Just to let you know, Jake met Roger Federer(#1 Tennis Player in the world) and Kathy Freeman at Niketown today. They were there helping out as well. I also found out that Andre and Steffi hired(rented) a house in town. So... I may have to go check it out. I have to say, I am a little starstruck.

That is one thing that is cool about living here. Since it is one of the biggest cities in the country, alot of famous people come here to promote movies, albums, play concerts ,etc... There always seems to be someone in town.

Beside the open, oops, I mean the tennis, its back to school time. School starts for the kids next thursday, the day after Australia Day. Its wierd that they had such a short summer break but it is also kind of nice to get them back to school so quickly. Nothing wrong with getting them back into the uniforms!!!!

As far as Australia Day, its supposed to be similar to the Fourth of July. So I will have report back on how the day goes. So far we have no plans.

That's all for now, I need to fold clothes!!!
Jenny :)

The Xmas Deck!

The party hats from our Xmas crackers.

The kids with our Xmas tree on the deck.

Christmas Crackers

http://www.oldenglishcrackers.com/christmas-crackers.htm

Here is a link to a site that sells Christmas Crackers. Just so you get an idea. If only ours had been so nice!!

Aussie Xmas

Hello Again. It has been awhile since my last post. I could blame the busy holiday season and all but really I have just been lazy about doing much of anything. Jake and I had the last ten days off. We took some day trips and have spent several days lazing around. But I guess relaxing is the point of taking vacation. Anyways... I feel a little wierd posting a light hearted note about our experiences here in light of the tsunami tragedy in SE Asia. The gravity of the situation is very real here. I think because we are somewhat close to where it hit and because there were so many Aussies there. It has been very big news for a week now. It definitely makes me grateful for what I have in life. Once again a major world tragedy has made me rethink my priorities.

With that said, I could dwell and be sad or get on with life. I choose to get on with life and thus I am going to post a note on our Aussie xmas!

Yes, we made it through our first Aussie Xmas. All I can say is that it was very strange. I don't think Jake or I really got into the Xmas spirit. We still had fun and enjoyed our time with the kids but it was very wierd.

First of all, without family around, the holiday rush never hit. It seemed as though we had few commitments and plenty of time for shopping, decorating etc.

Secondly, the weather was warm. Christmas just doesn't seem like christmas without, at the minimum, a rainy cold Oregon day or a snowy cold Minnesota day.

And lastly, did I mention that we had alot of time on our hands. Again, not complaining, it was the most relaxing Christmas I have ever had, it was just really strange. I think we all got a little homesick.

We did incorporate a few Aussie/English traditions into our holidays, though and that made it fun! At the grocery store and every other store in Melbourne, they sold crackers which are basically a tube wrapped like a present with goodies. At first Jake and I couldn't figure out what they were. I thought that actual crackers (the kind you eat) were inside. Finally, curiosity got the best of us and Jake bought a box. Basically, you pull the ends of the tube and it cracks like a firecracker. Inside there was a joke, a small toy and a paper hat. So we opened our crackers on Christmas Eve, wore the hats like a foursome of dorks and decided that maybe next year we skip the crackers at Safeway and go for the fancy ones at the mall.

The second tradition was having Christmas Pudding. First of all pudding is not pudding here. Pudding is more like a generic term for dessert. This would explain our Christmas Pudding being a doughball (with dried fruits) wrapped in cheese cloth. Now some may question why we would spend $20 on a ball of fruit cake dough wrapped in cheesecloth. We were assured that it was very good though! So we went ahead, bought it, boiled it for 30 minutes (you're drooling aren't you??) let it cool and served it with heavy cream. Mind you not whipped cream, heavy cream. The results, I thought it was really good. It was kind of like cinnamon raisin bread but more flavorful and dense. However, the rest of the family wasn't as fond of it. So, next year I'll be going to our neighborhood bakery to get a christmas pudding for one. Much more economical.

Another biggie for Christmas is Turkey. Since there is no Thanksgiving, Turkey is big here. However, the turkeys here are small. No conversation on how big your Chrstmas turkey is. Also, because of the heat, many families BBQ prawns, turkey breast, lamb, etc... They do a big Christmas Lunch and then a dinner of lunch leftovers.

Some other notes on Xmas....

Its not as commercialised here.

They also have big sales after Xmas but generally, the city seemed to be fairly quiet. Seeing as its summer, many people are on holiday and not around.

Other than a little homesickness, we really had a nice quiet holiday and spent alot of time playing with the kids, going to the movies and taking a few day trips. However, if you want to come visit us next year... you won't hear any complaints.

Anyways, for the first time since we got here I finally feel like we are getting into a normal schedule. The new school year starts for Ben and Rach in 3 weeks and our endless summer will be coming to an end at the beginning of March. AlthoughI enjoy summer weather, fall is my favorite time of year. Once again, though it will be strange as we'll be celebrating Lent and Easter during the Fall. My friend Natalia from work immigrated here from Russia 10 years ago and she said the first year is the stangest because of the seasons being turned around. But, then you get over it!!

Happy New Year to you all!!
Jen :)