reminders of home

right around the corner from me is a bar i haven’t checked out yet. it seems to be just a fri/sat late nite dance club rather than just a bar. a few weeks ago they renovated and changed their name to ‘eleven a’.

now i cant walk past the place w/o thinking of 7B and that cute bartender.

christmas eve 2003

this morning i got up early so i could get to the market and get some veggies. tomorrow i’m going to attempt baked sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie and such. a traditional (yet veggie) northern hemisphere american xmas dinner.

when i checked the weather it was even a chilly 64/14 degrees so i put on jeans and a long sleeve tshirt. as soon as i walked out the door i knew that was the wrong thing to do but i was running late (of course).

now it’s 430 and it’s 88 out!!! sunny and beautiful. came home from work and have changed into a skirt and thongs (ie flip flops).

there’s still a lack of xmas spirit around this place, though i did notice a few more carols today and santa hats. going out now to check around.

U$850

air new zealand is offering U$850 to auckland in january. that’s summer here for all u folks who are experiencing snow and cold.

xmas trees

ok.. this is a little bit out of order. it seems a posting i made earlier tonite didn’t make it to the web.

if i were at home, i’d wander out on the street, walk a few blocks tops and buy a potted live xmas tree. sure it would die in a few weeks because i have nothing of a green thumb but it would do it’s job of sitting in my flat, smelling great and holding up lights.

it wasn’t til last week that i decided i really wanted an xmas tree. and no fake thing. i wanted a real one that smelled great. there is no sidewalk tree stands here. possibly because it’s been in the 80s/90s for over a week but they just don’t do that.

since i live in the city, i started the search with florists. well i guess at first i couldnt find anything. then i decided to try florists. i found a few places that had trees. small sizes in pots. but the trees were all soft needles. a different kind of pine than what i wanted. the kicker was NONE of the trees smelled. NONE. they were green and in a semi xmas tree shape but that’s about it for comparison.

this week i decided i really really wanted a tree. after talking with people i decided to check nurseries. on tuesday eve i called around and found out all the small potted ones are a tree variety called picea (sp?). this variety DOES NOT smell. AT ALL!!!! argh. i was advised by several people to look at big trees that have been cut. and most nurseries aren’t selling full size trees. ARGH. have i mentioned they places were closed because it was 5pm so i couldnt even go check to see if the big ones smelled???

ARGH

a friend of mine agreed to drive me to wherever to get a tree on tuesday. but after these conversations it seemed useless to drive anywhere. i also learned by calling all these places that my best bet is to go to a tree farm. of course the only ones nearby seem to be about an hour outside the city. and i’m sure they close at 5pm.

great.

ARGH

this same friend suggested i buy a tree and spray it with pine scented air freshner or aromatherapy oil. he almost died.

after talking with people, it seems most families have fake trees. not many have the real thing?!???!!!!! what in the world! freaks!!!

i wonder if all aussie pine trees don’t smell. maybe they’re totally different and don’t have that evergreen smell. maybe the country has no idea of the joy of pine needles.

so now i’ve posted my question to the melbourne americans yahoo group. we’ll see if i get a reply. i’ve also asked where i can get fresh cranberries for cranberry sauce. i’m not holding my breath on this one.

more xmas rant

while i’m ranting….

all the public xmas trees are fake. the big areas… federation square, the city tree outside the town hall, ones inside the shopping centers, etc… they’re all fake. ARGH.

and there’s not a hell of a lot of shops that are playing xmas music. starbucks is. i think the big department stores are. not that i hang out at a lot of shops but it just isn’t really being played. food shops aren’t either.

ARGH

allergies / hayfever

the normal seasonal allergies that we would call allergies are called hayfever here. and when i use the word ‘allergies’, not everyone understands. yet another word in my vocab i’m changing.

my allergies have not been as bad as they were in nyc. it’s only on high pollen days that i’m having problems. there’s been a few of them though. the symptoms are slightly different … my eyes are still itchy, there’s some of the stuffed up nose and sneezing but the real annoying symptom is a headache that won’t go away no matter what i take.

wonderful.

sheltered

we have a lot of regulars at the juice bar where i work. the other day one of them came in really late in the afternoon when normally he is there much much earlier in the day so i asked if he had been locked away in a meeting for all day. nah, he was on the other campus. campus? seems he works at one of the unis. one of my friends works there so i mention her name. he doesnt know her but sez he’s heard her name and then says ’small world’. funny how in my perception of melbourne now that isn’t anywhere near ’small world’. that’s just common.