Garbage Christmas

Rachel:

I can't believe I haven't posted this earlier! In

Melbourne there exists a "Garbage Christmas" also known as household waste day or something like that. On Garbage Christmas, you wake up and the streets are covered with free stuff that you can take! Stuff like clothes horses, printers, broken chairs, televisions, hangers etc. We got our TV from the curb and beside the odd time that it turns itself off, it is our best friend. We had another Garbage Christmas recently and Kurtis was so excited that he made me go to bed early because in his words, "If you don't go to sleep, Garbage Santa won't come!"

Kurtis has come such a long way since we got here. He used to be too snotty to use coupons, didn't immediately go to the grocery that costs the least, too good to participate in Garbage Christmas. But now, I didn't even know this Garbage Christmas was coming up but Kurtis spoke of Garbage Christmas many days before and even posted the notice of Garbage Christmas on our bulletin board! Unfortunately, we both had to work all day, so we didn't get any garbage this time....

Australian Word of the Day: "That's not on mate!" - Another thing Kurtis and I keep saying with an Australian accent. Just basically an Australian way of saying, "that is not cool, friend," usually indicating that something is not fair, not right or not nice. For example, when Kurtis found out that his pizza store job paid him less than minimum wage, he would say, "that's not on mate!"

Not racist huh?

Rachel:

Despite protests from many Australians that Australia is not a racist country and are welcoming to all races, this garbage was on TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMAyGewq37w&feature=player_embedded

This show was widely watched as it was an older Australian variety show, brought back for a limited time. Seems like they are still in the 1930s? When was blackface around? Probably way earlier than that.

I just want to vomit, shake everyone, slap people across the face etc etc etc. This is why I cannot live here. I couldn't stand to have to deal with this on a daily basis. It's not everyone, I know, but the fact that these guys are not immediately fired and raked across the coals just indicates the acceptance of these ignorant and intolerant attitudes and behaviours. The rest of the world should be saying something to Australia, because they just don't get that racism is evil, outdated, ignorant and completely unacceptable.

I do like Australia BUT (and thats a big but) can you enjoy a place where you know that your best friends wouldn't be accepted here? Can you endorse a place that turns a blind eye to prejudice? This is a huge struggle Kurtis and I have been dealing with. We have met lovely people here, visited amazing places, experienced interesting culture but there is a dark side here that makes our stomach turn...

Australian Word of the Day: Wog, Skip, Abs, Abos, Pom, etc etc. - the lovely racist terms that some Australians use in regular conversations. Many people don't see these terms as racist, they are just narrowing who they are talking about. I'm dry retching right now.

At last....

Rachel:

So after 8 years, 5 months and 8 days of dating, Kurtis proposed to me. He did so at a romantic dinner in Fiji, on the beach just outside of our beach front bure after we had finished our pizza. Pizza doesn’t sound too romantic but hey, it was pizza night at the resort so we couldn’t pass it up. I can’t lie and say I was totally surprised but it was a perfect proposal. We had champagne, our own waitress, the most beautiful sunset and the whole beach to ourselves. In the words of myself, how romantical.

Our trip to Fiji was beautiful and I can’t wait to go back. The Fijian people are gorgeous, the weather was perfection, the water was an amazing blue and the scenery is stunning. Plus they have these flowers, fragapani, which I am now madly obsessed with. We stayed at Mango Bay in a bure which was beautiful. We had our own outdoor shower, where I had the best showers of my life. You look up and there are palm trees and flowers everywhere and the sun is shining down on you. It was

really tough to shower this morning in our dark, ugly, damp bathroom. The other thing about Fiji is that everyone is on Fiji time, which means that things happen when they happen, no worries. I wish my impending school assignments could be handed in on Fiji time…

In Australian news, Kurtis quit his pizza store job and now works at the Lindt Café in the city. I have about three more weeks left at IKEA and we both have about four more weeks of school left. This year has whipped by. It’s getting to the point where there isn’t really anything new about Australia to us. We kinda feel like we are at home. I will miss our house and neighbourhood when we leave. But before we leave, we have a big three and a half week trip up the east coast of Australia to plan and do. Should be good and expensive!

Australian Word of the Day: "You'll be right/He'll be right/She'll be right" Kurtis and I just keep saying this phrase because its the only thing we can properly say with an Aussie accent. Just means that you will be okay and is usually followed by "mate." You should always throw a "mate" in for good measure. lol.