Recently I had a conversation about catching sharks take a nasty turn to detail all of the incredibly scary creatures Australia has to offer. For instance there are more deadly snakes here than any other country in the world. However as always there are exceptions. Australia also seems to have an incredible number of adorable creatures made even cuter by bouncing.
When I moved in I was told to let them know if I heard scratching in the walls at night. They had recently had the "possum whisperer" (that's actually what this man calls himself) come to remove "Percy the possum." Here, there are possums everywhere (much to the disapproval of the greyhounds.) When they told me about Percy I was envisioning the American version, so was a bit confused by the loving way in which they were talked about. In the same way Australians do financing higher education, they just do possums better than us. The proof is in the picture.
American opossum
Sadly, since possums are nocturnal, and normally would run away, the possum I saw (in the picture) was quite sick.
I spent most of my last week also under the weather doing nothing more than sleeping. Though I'm sure detailing those days would be riveting reading, I'll spare you.
The weekend brought clear sinuses and skies as well as one of Phil's sons, Doug. All of Phil's children seem to be gifted musicians. Doug is a professional violist in Tasmania.
You can hear his quartet play here:
http://www.abc.net.au/classic/content/2014/07/13/4027916.htm
I spent the Saturday with the family-- cooking and going to Tim's (Phil's composer son) soccer game.
The game was where I found I could only understand Australians about half the time when they were yelling. When a player on the field got hurt they would lie there until the medic ran over. Once he got there he would throw some water on them and run off the field. This was referred to as the "magic water." It reminded me of how I used to use hand sanitizer if my 6 yo campers asked to go to the nurse too many times for bug bites... Except this was with men in their late 20s and early 30s. Tim had a hat trick and the team celebrated their victory by singing a little song, jumping around and throwing even more water on each other.
On Sunday I cooked with Patrice and was solidly the other chef in the kitchen. Extra chefs were needed, however, as Tim was hosting a 30 some person party for everyone to meet his girlfriend. I ended up talking to a few of Tim's housemates and got the rundown on Australian politics. I didn't mind, but somehow that always seems to happen to me. I always seem to have a busman's holiday at parties. We rounded out the day by attending the church where I had a conversation with a 20 year old electrician who was very enthusiastically smiling while telling me basically if my views didn't exactly align with his I was going to hell. (Spoiler: I now know where I'm headed...way to ruin that surprise.) Somehow the smile made it all the more creepy.
I'm told that he's just a "bit intense." I guess that's one way to put it. On Wednesday I got my first phone call at the house-- it was the electrician's brother asking me if I wanted a ride to a bible thing that night. Somehow I became immediately busy. However, now know who to call if I ever wish to be "en-light-ened." Though what he has to say might "shock me." But maybe I'd see the light.
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