So much to tell

We have internet at home now!!! You don't realize how dependent you are until it is not really available.

Well I am trying to figure out how to update you all on what has been going on, perhaps small segments will work the best over the course of a few days.

The church family has been great to us. They bought groceries for us before we even got to the house. Many have brought over a meal or invited us to their homes. The cool thing about moving somewhere totally different is that as soon as you find Christians you immediately connect with them and are welcomed into a family. God has been good to us.

We prayed about our luggage before we left...not a single suitcase was lost!!! We got through customs very easily ( having a baby helps) except for Brandon being detained due to his airsoft gun.

We bought a car last week. I was very happy about this since I am not able to drive the Hart's car due to insurance purposes. Our car is a 89' with a body kit and rims. The car is very nice on the inside and out which is a shock seeing it is a 89. Rust is almost nonexistent down here. The only rust we would get is from the salt water/air combo and since we don't live directly on the ocean we are ok.

The people we bought the car from are very nice. He is dealing with cancer and they are going to a Jehovah Witnesses temple (is that what they call it?). When we went to pick up the car we talked for about an hour with them about this and that. When we left she gave us some homemade jam. I guess that was to seal the deal :-)

Sarah McEwen ( a fellow American) has been great. She has taken me all over the place and shown me where the cheap fruit is, opshops, etc.
She and I have recently been discussing the order in which meals are had here. There is quite a chart to figure out..I think this is how it goes

breakfast
morning tea ( like afternoon tea except you would serve more savories) (I don't know how to spell savories correctly, in fact I'm not even sure if this is what they are saying but that is what it sounds like)

brunch ( a more filling meal compared to the morning tea)
lunch ( what we would think it is )
afternoon tea ( like morning tea except you have more sweets)
tea (what we would call dinner or supper )
supper ( a meal but light and usually no meat is served)


I still don't have it completely figured out. I think I will just ask people to come over and eat with us. They can fill in the blanks : -)


I have put some new albums up at our Kodak gallery site. They are entitled Moving to Oz part 1 and 2.

Enjoy!

Meg




p.s. some more things that are different


1. You can't say spank or spanking because it has some bad meanings. Instead you have to say smack. So I would say "Jolene needs a smack" or "Jolene you are going to get smacked when we get home". Sounds so much better doesn't it!!!!

2. For awhile I have noticed that mums (moms) will say to their kids "come here 'name of child' doll". So I would say "come here Jolene doll". But they are not actually saying DOLL. It is spelled darl and is short for darling. It still sounds like doll to me though : -0

3. When looking to rent a house they advertise per week but you pay per month.

4. Gas is petrol, but they also have auto gas which is more crude but some cars can still run on it. Some cars have two tanks, one for petrol and another for the autogas. Autogas is about 0.50/ L and petrol is about 1.20/L.

5. They are not airplanes but aeroplanes. Cars don't have tires but tyres. You don't change your child diaper, it is called a nappie. Really if you want to sound a little aussie just shorten the word and put ie at the end.