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Cross-Cultural Field Trip to the ER? No thank you.

I’m very relieved to tell you about a cross-cultural experience we did NOT have to have a couple nights ago, and that is a trip to the emergency room. We decided to take dinner out onto the patio, where sits a fairly flimsy plastic table with 2 chairs – one broken, one not. We moved … Continue reading »

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Does it mean something if the Wikipedia entry for “culture shock” brought me a strange sense of comfort?

I feel like I owe it to my soul to say something on here about culture shock. And not just my soul – I think my stomach would also appreciate it if I spoke up rather than continuing my rather indecorous streak of stress eating. I sort of alluded to my culture shock in my … Continue reading »

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Weather

It’s one thing to be excited about taking public transit everywhere… Walking everywhere is great exercise! We don’t have to pay for gas! It’s so beautiful to take the ferry under the Harbour Bridge! Naomi doesn’t have to be strapped into a car seat! No traffic! Ahhhhh!!! But it’s another thing to have no car … Continue reading »

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An Ikea is an Ikea is an Ikea

Thursday morning Daniel needed to do some work so Naomi and I walked 5 minutes to a park we’d seen a few days before. It was interesting to be around the toddler/mom/park scene in Australia. Pretty much the same as the toddler/mom/park scene in America, except for the curly accent, and the fact that they’re … Continue reading »

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Creche? You mean like a Nativity scene?

I went to a women’s bible study this morning. This past Sunday Daniel, Naomi and I did end up visiting St. John’s, the Anglican church that Google Maps claimed was a 5-minute walk from our house. It is in fact a 5-min walk, and Anglican, and I think it will be a lovely church home for … Continue reading »

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On the Bright Side

Well the good news is: I am typing this from our apartment. And I’m not choking on cigarette smoke. We came back today, after leaving all the windows wide open for 48 hrs, after having the furniture and carpet steam cleaned, and after arming ourselves with an ionizer (air purifier). I was honestly pretty nervous … Continue reading »

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A quick update…and our view

I’ll leave it to Katie to fill you in on the details, but the quick update is that we finally moved into the apartment. After 48 hours of airing the place out (fortunately there are a lot of windows to allow for a good breeze), and some major steam cleaning (sofas, pillows, both mattresses, and … Continue reading »

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The First Weekend

We’re here! We landed in Sydney about 10 am on Friday morning. We were able to find a taxi with a car seat pretty easily (apparently lots of taxis here have one). The weather was beautiful – sunny and clear, although the days are noticeably shorter than what we’ve been used to lately (since it is after all … Continue reading »

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A Rose By Any Other Name…

So far, in my perusing around maps of Sydney to see some highlights we might want to see or do while there, I have found myself just as fascinated reading the names of spots on the map, just to say the words out loud and hear what they sound like. Some of my personal favorites … Continue reading »

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