In the early hours of Saturday morning, I finished 'Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West' by Gregory Maguire. It was a book I could hardly put down during my last two weeks I've been reading it. It was utterly amazing, one of my favourite books I've ever read. I can't stop talking about it to anyone that wants to listen! It has alot of religious and political themes as well as the main one, "what makes a person evil". It tells the life of Elphaba (the wicked witch of the west) and was such a powerful book.
Saturday morning, was bright and sunny and Frannie, Steph, Sarah and I met at the Bronx Zoo! It was an okay zoo, good animals but not so good inclosures. We finished there at like 4 or 5 ish, and sat out the front for 30minutes talking to a cop who worked at the zoo. He was really nice and told us all what it was like working in the bronx, being on the force, and more.
Then I headed into the city alone. I walked up 5th to check out the disney store, then headed over to Magnolia's Bakery to get one of the best cupcakes on earth. I then had dinner and walked to the Gershwin theatre where 'Wicked' is performed. It was so exciting even walking in, it was a much bigger theatre then where Chicago was. There was Wicked staging in the hall, like a map and stuff from the book. I bought a program and then got shown my seat. I was in the FRONT ROW!!! I was furtherest to the left and my view was slightly obstructed, but it was still really cool to see it up front. The backdrops and props and costumes were so vibrant and bright! The songs - omg the songs are literally addictive. It is now Tuesday night, and I have listening to nothing but the Wicked Soundtrack, after I returned home from the musical on sat night.
It was interesting, because the musical and the book were very different. Do you know when you read a book, then see the movie, and they've changed alot of the characters, or plots, and combined things, and scrapped things and you sit there thinking, "NOOOO you're ruining it, what are you doing, stop stop!"
Well it was like that in regards to changing and scrapping alot, but I didn't sit their thinking no, i thought wow! It made so much sense in the musical to change what they did; and it didn't take away from the book, it just made it a new more interesting level of Oz. I can't stop talking about the musical or the book, and I am on such a WIcked high haha. I want to see it again, but it is so expensive :( $75 for the ticket plus the tax etc made it $90.
Sunday night was Frannie's farewell. All the aussie girls (sarah, steph, me, fran, emily, emma, jade, alissa, alice) met at our fav restaurant The Cheesecake Factory for our last meal together, then the four muskateers Fran, Steph, Sarah & me had our last night all together at our spot, the river. Very sad. I will miss her so much :(
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
you know you're aussie when
just in case u were all getting worried from the last one...
1. You know the meaning of the word 'girt'.
2. You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.
3. You think it's normal to have a leader called Kevin.
4. You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expired petrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.
5. You've made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden.
6. You believe it is appropriate to put a rubber in your son's pencil case when he first attends school.
7. When you hear that an American 'roots for his team' you wonder how often and with whom.
8. You understand that the phrase 'a group of women wearing black thongs' refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.
9. You pronounce Melbourne as 'Mel-bin'.
10. You pronounce Penrith as 'Pen-riff'.
11. You believe the 'l' in the word 'Australia' is optional.
12. You can translate: 'Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas.'
13. You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.
14. You call your best friend 'a total bastard' but someone you really, truly despise is just 'a bit of a bastard'.
15. You think 'Woolloomooloo' is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.
16. You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.
17. You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin.
18. You understand that 'Wagga Wagga' can be abbreviated to 'Wagga' but 'Woy Woy' can't be called 'Woy'.
19. You believe that cooked-down axle grease makes a good breakfast spread.
20. You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis.
21. Hamburger. Beetroot. Of course.
22. You know that certain words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels' song 'Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again'.
23. You believe, as an article of faith, that the confectionery known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year.
24. You still don't get why the 'Labor' in 'Australian Labor Party' is not spelt with a 'u'.
25. You wear ugh boots outside the house.
26. You believe, as an article of faith, that every important discovery in the world was made by an Australian but then sold off to the Yanks for a pittance.
27. You believe that the more you shorten someone's name the more you like them.
28. Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.
29. You understand that 'excuse me' can sound rude, while 'scuse me' is always polite.
30. You know what it's like to swallow a fly, on occasion via your nose.
31. You understand that 'you' has a plural and that it's 'youse'.
32. You know it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.
33. Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules for beach cricket.
34. You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call 'Anzac cookies'.
35. You still think of Kylie as 'that girl off Neighbours'.
36. When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs - just in case you're trying to sneak in fruit.
37. You believe the phrase 'smart casual' refers to a pair of black tracky-daks, suitably laundered.
38. You understand that all train timetables are works of fiction.
39. When working on a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer.
40. You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second.
41. You find yourself ignorant of nearly all the facts deemed essential in the government's new test for migrants.
42. You know, whatever the tourist books say, that no one says 'cobber'.
43. And you will immediately forward this list to other Australians, here and overseas, realising that only they will understand.
(22 outta 43 ...more then half wooh aussie aussie aussie)
1. You know the meaning of the word 'girt'.
2. You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.
3. You think it's normal to have a leader called Kevin.
4. You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expired petrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.
5. You've made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden.
6. You believe it is appropriate to put a rubber in your son's pencil case when he first attends school.
7. When you hear that an American 'roots for his team' you wonder how often and with whom.
8. You understand that the phrase 'a group of women wearing black thongs' refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.
9. You pronounce Melbourne as 'Mel-bin'.
10. You pronounce Penrith as 'Pen-riff'.
11. You believe the 'l' in the word 'Australia' is optional.
12. You can translate: 'Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas.'
13. You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.
14. You call your best friend 'a total bastard' but someone you really, truly despise is just 'a bit of a bastard'.
15. You think 'Woolloomooloo' is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.
16. You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.
17. You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin.
18. You understand that 'Wagga Wagga' can be abbreviated to 'Wagga' but 'Woy Woy' can't be called 'Woy'.
19. You believe that cooked-down axle grease makes a good breakfast spread.
20. You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis.
21. Hamburger. Beetroot. Of course.
22. You know that certain words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels' song 'Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again'.
23. You believe, as an article of faith, that the confectionery known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year.
24. You still don't get why the 'Labor' in 'Australian Labor Party' is not spelt with a 'u'.
25. You wear ugh boots outside the house.
26. You believe, as an article of faith, that every important discovery in the world was made by an Australian but then sold off to the Yanks for a pittance.
27. You believe that the more you shorten someone's name the more you like them.
28. Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.
29. You understand that 'excuse me' can sound rude, while 'scuse me' is always polite.
30. You know what it's like to swallow a fly, on occasion via your nose.
31. You understand that 'you' has a plural and that it's 'youse'.
32. You know it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.
33. Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules for beach cricket.
34. You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call 'Anzac cookies'.
35. You still think of Kylie as 'that girl off Neighbours'.
36. When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs - just in case you're trying to sneak in fruit.
37. You believe the phrase 'smart casual' refers to a pair of black tracky-daks, suitably laundered.
38. You understand that all train timetables are works of fiction.
39. When working on a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer.
40. You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second.
41. You find yourself ignorant of nearly all the facts deemed essential in the government's new test for migrants.
42. You know, whatever the tourist books say, that no one says 'cobber'.
43. And you will immediately forward this list to other Australians, here and overseas, realising that only they will understand.
(22 outta 43 ...more then half wooh aussie aussie aussie)
You know you're a New Yorker when...
Welll I wouldn't call myself one yet, but I'm getting there haha. Pretty sure you have to live in actual Manhattan for more then a year but hey, I can relate to some in the meantime...
1.You say "the city" and expect everyone to know that this means Manhattan
2.You have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building
3.You're always looking out for cool free things to do in the Village Voice
4.When you're standing in a packed subway car with 200 hundred other people and everyone manages to avoid looking at each other
5.$50 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag
6.You live in a building with a larger population than most American towns
7.Your doorman is Russian, your grocer is Korean, your deli man is Israeli, your building super is Italian, your laundry guy is Chinese, your favorite bartender is Irish, your favorite diner owner is Greek, the watchseller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was Pakistani, your newsstand guy is Indian and your favorite falafel guy is Egyptian.
8.You get pissed at people who say they're from NY and they tell you they're from upstate
9.You can pick out the tourists when they turn their heads to the "ladies and gentlemen this is an important announcement from the MTA" message
10.You know what a bodega is.
11.You're on the train and you see two kids walk in and one says "EXCUSE ME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN..."
12.When you're in the background of a tourists' photo.
13.You use the rats in the subway tracks to tell you when the train's approaching the station
14.When you say "mad" and "son"
15.You don't buy newspapers in the morning, because you know somebody will leave theirs on the train
16.Your door has more than three locks.
17.You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.
18.You ride in a subway car with no air conditioning just because there are seats available.
19.You don't buy a copy of the Sunday Times without checking if it has all the sections.
20.You've gotten jaywalking down to an art form
21.When you're away from home, you miss "real" pizza and "real" bagels.
22.You hate it when your out of town and you ask people where they're from and they say the city, so you say what part? and they say one the following: New Jersey, Long Island or Westchester. That's not the city!
23.You know that Staten Island, although a borough of New York City, isn't really part of the city at all
24.There are 3 bodegas in a 1 block radius.
25.When you are surprised that other places actually have school sports and cheerleaders
26.You're not in the least bit interested in going to Times Square on New Year's Eve.
27.You wonder what the fuck "pop" is
28.You hate it when people that sit opposite you on the train stare at you.
29.You can ignore homeless people without feeling too bad
30.You know the differences between all the different Ray's Pizzas.
31.The only reason you don't like HS is because NY is the only state with the Regent
32.There's a Kennedy's Fried Chicken close to where you live
33.Your local news is national news.
34.More than half of the people you know have names that take 3+ tries to pronounce correctly
35.There is no North and South ... it's uptown or downtown
36.When you see at least one person you know no matter where u are or when
37.You hate it when ppl who live upstate call themselves "new yorkers?'
38.When you see those big red tourist buses and want to throw shit at them...
39.You can walk through "The City" for hours and not get tired but once your out of NYC and walk for 10 minutes you feel exhausted. (every single time without fail!!)
40.You don't own a "I LOVE NEW YORK" shirt
41.You're so tired of hearing "If you see something say something", or the Spanish version: Si ves algo, di algo, in either the subway or LIRR
42.You watch movies and TV shows "filmed" in NYC and say "wtf..that shit does NOT exist anywhere in the city
43.You have trained yourself to hold your breath upon entering a subway elevator
44.You move up one block to steal the cab from the person waiting for it below you
45.When you've held the trains doors open so you and 50 of your friends can get in.
46.You refuse to eat pizza anywhere other than NYC because the pizza everywhere else is just horrible in comparison
47.You can tell a bum from a crackhead-bum and you disperse your money accordingly
48.You know how to fold the New York Times in half, vertically, so that you can read it on the subway or bus without knocking off other passenger's hats.
49.Someone bumps into you, and you check for your wallet
50.When you refuse to pay for a newspaper ever since the am and metro came out
51.People from other states can't tell a polar bear from a peanut, but they know you're from NY the second you open your mouth.
52.Rather than waiting safely on the sidewalk to cross the street, you wait inches away from speeding traffic waiting to cut through it.
53.You never take the first newspaper in the stack at a news stand.
54.You consider Westchester "upstate"
55.You walk a mile in 13 minutes and think that everything should be open 24/7.
56.Yellow light means speed up. Red light means speed up because you know have that 1 second pause until the other light turns green.
57.Communicating with people on the road only takes one finger.
58.You order your dinner and have it delivered from the place across the street.
59.Rats are your new subway friends.
60.You know exactly which subway car & door is closest to the stairs at the stop ur getting off
61.You have jaywalked in front of a cop. More than once. And they didn't care.
62.You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual
63.You've considered stabbing someone just for saying "The Big Apple"
64.You can't find an umbrella anywhere when its nice out but the second it rains 5 people are fighting to sell them on the same block
65.You haven't seen more than twelve stars in the night sky since you went away to camp as a kid
66.You get lost whenever you drive in long island b/c you're used to all the street being numbered
(25 outta 66, thats like a third. wooh. haha)
1.You say "the city" and expect everyone to know that this means Manhattan
2.You have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building
3.You're always looking out for cool free things to do in the Village Voice
4.When you're standing in a packed subway car with 200 hundred other people and everyone manages to avoid looking at each other
5.$50 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag
6.You live in a building with a larger population than most American towns
7.Your doorman is Russian, your grocer is Korean, your deli man is Israeli, your building super is Italian, your laundry guy is Chinese, your favorite bartender is Irish, your favorite diner owner is Greek, the watchseller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was Pakistani, your newsstand guy is Indian and your favorite falafel guy is Egyptian.
8.You get pissed at people who say they're from NY and they tell you they're from upstate
9.You can pick out the tourists when they turn their heads to the "ladies and gentlemen this is an important announcement from the MTA" message
10.You know what a bodega is.
11.You're on the train and you see two kids walk in and one says "EXCUSE ME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN..."
12.When you're in the background of a tourists' photo.
13.You use the rats in the subway tracks to tell you when the train's approaching the station
14.When you say "mad" and "son"
15.You don't buy newspapers in the morning, because you know somebody will leave theirs on the train
16.Your door has more than three locks.
17.You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.
18.You ride in a subway car with no air conditioning just because there are seats available.
19.You don't buy a copy of the Sunday Times without checking if it has all the sections.
20.You've gotten jaywalking down to an art form
21.When you're away from home, you miss "real" pizza and "real" bagels.
22.You hate it when your out of town and you ask people where they're from and they say the city, so you say what part? and they say one the following: New Jersey, Long Island or Westchester. That's not the city!
23.You know that Staten Island, although a borough of New York City, isn't really part of the city at all
24.There are 3 bodegas in a 1 block radius.
25.When you are surprised that other places actually have school sports and cheerleaders
26.You're not in the least bit interested in going to Times Square on New Year's Eve.
27.You wonder what the fuck "pop" is
28.You hate it when people that sit opposite you on the train stare at you.
29.You can ignore homeless people without feeling too bad
30.You know the differences between all the different Ray's Pizzas.
31.The only reason you don't like HS is because NY is the only state with the Regent
32.There's a Kennedy's Fried Chicken close to where you live
33.Your local news is national news.
34.More than half of the people you know have names that take 3+ tries to pronounce correctly
35.There is no North and South ... it's uptown or downtown
36.When you see at least one person you know no matter where u are or when
37.You hate it when ppl who live upstate call themselves "new yorkers?'
38.When you see those big red tourist buses and want to throw shit at them...
39.You can walk through "The City" for hours and not get tired but once your out of NYC and walk for 10 minutes you feel exhausted. (every single time without fail!!)
40.You don't own a "I LOVE NEW YORK" shirt
41.You're so tired of hearing "If you see something say something", or the Spanish version: Si ves algo, di algo, in either the subway or LIRR
42.You watch movies and TV shows "filmed" in NYC and say "wtf..that shit does NOT exist anywhere in the city
43.You have trained yourself to hold your breath upon entering a subway elevator
44.You move up one block to steal the cab from the person waiting for it below you
45.When you've held the trains doors open so you and 50 of your friends can get in.
46.You refuse to eat pizza anywhere other than NYC because the pizza everywhere else is just horrible in comparison
47.You can tell a bum from a crackhead-bum and you disperse your money accordingly
48.You know how to fold the New York Times in half, vertically, so that you can read it on the subway or bus without knocking off other passenger's hats.
49.Someone bumps into you, and you check for your wallet
50.When you refuse to pay for a newspaper ever since the am and metro came out
51.People from other states can't tell a polar bear from a peanut, but they know you're from NY the second you open your mouth.
52.Rather than waiting safely on the sidewalk to cross the street, you wait inches away from speeding traffic waiting to cut through it.
53.You never take the first newspaper in the stack at a news stand.
54.You consider Westchester "upstate"
55.You walk a mile in 13 minutes and think that everything should be open 24/7.
56.Yellow light means speed up. Red light means speed up because you know have that 1 second pause until the other light turns green.
57.Communicating with people on the road only takes one finger.
58.You order your dinner and have it delivered from the place across the street.
59.Rats are your new subway friends.
60.You know exactly which subway car & door is closest to the stairs at the stop ur getting off
61.You have jaywalked in front of a cop. More than once. And they didn't care.
62.You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual
63.You've considered stabbing someone just for saying "The Big Apple"
64.You can't find an umbrella anywhere when its nice out but the second it rains 5 people are fighting to sell them on the same block
65.You haven't seen more than twelve stars in the night sky since you went away to camp as a kid
66.You get lost whenever you drive in long island b/c you're used to all the street being numbered
(25 outta 66, thats like a third. wooh. haha)
You know you're an aupair when...
You know you’re an Au Pair in the USA when…(blue i find true, purple is my comment)
…you always introduce yourself with : ‘Hi! my name is (your name), I’m from (country) and I have (amount of children you are taking care of) children!!’
…everybody is greeting you with a ‘Hi.How are you!’
and you can’t respond fast enough, so you say it first!
…the worst thing is, when the dad is working from home (or mom!!!)
…you know what a S’MORE is (they are soooo good)
…you spent all your money at the MALL and you still have nothing to wear
…you hate Dora, The Wiggles and Thomas
…you say silly instead of stupid
…you go to PLAYDATES
…you’ve seen more movies in one month than in your whole life at home
…you drive ove 30 minutes to a friend and you think it’s not far
…you only have other Au Pairs as your friends (besides one girl but shes a nanny, and she use to be an aupair so i guess it doesnt really count haha)
…you can make bacon (pretty sure i knew how to do this before!)
…you say ‘like’ and ‘totally’ every three words
…someone has asked you stupid questions like:
- ‘do you have cars in your country?’ – ‘You don’t have Valentine’s day?’ – ‘Where is your country?’ (yes! the other day someone asked what language we speak in australia and i had to do everything in my power not to SLAP THEM DOWN! other ones that take the cake are 'do u have traffic lights there' and 'are your native people civilized')
…you don’t think it’s wrong to have cake AND ice cream
…you park as close to the store as possible so you don’t have to walk even one yard too far
…you cherish moments of silence more than ever before
…you notice yourself saying ‘GOOD JOB’ a hundred times a day
…you wonder why you slept the whole night long so uncomfortable and you notice the next morning, you slept on a barbie, a lollypop, sandtoys etc.
…you need to be creative to find new punishments because a time-out doesn’t work anymore
…you have to admit to mistakes you never did or put the blame on you day for day (this is so draining and true and frustrating)
…you’re sure you don’t want own kids within the next 100 years (haha oh god no)
…you know now exactly how difficult it was for your parents to have little kids and you feel like saying thanks for all you’ve done to your mum and dad every day (oops haha was i really this bad? haha)
…you’re ready to drink anytime of the day
…you start to love disney movies again and can copy every passage of them (pretty sure i have always and will always love disney movies)
…you’ve learned what it means to be patient
…you know what a LCC is
…you know that you should never SHAKE A BABY !!! (knew this before)
…you take a nap, after you dropped of the kids at school(after being up for just 2h )
…you are DRIVING to the busstop to pick up your kids, which is only 200 meters from your house.
…the kids call you mum cause you spend too much time with them… (happened for the first time this week haha)
…you think $200 every weekend just for shopping and coffee are not that much
…one cup of coffee doesn`t make you awake anymore, it just makes you alive
…you or your friends are KELLERKINDER!!!! (shoits, froielin!!!)
…you miss the good ol’ days when you were able to go to the bakery and get real bread w/ real butter (not that American shit called bread..haha) (omg its ridiculous, bread here is like candy. not ok)
…you don’t walk into the bank, you use the drive inn to get your money (well my friends drive us)
…you use Purell instead of washing your hands
…instead of singing song from the radio your singing childrens songs
…you always introduce yourself with : ‘Hi! my name is (your name), I’m from (country) and I have (amount of children you are taking care of) children!!’
…everybody is greeting you with a ‘Hi.How are you!’
and you can’t respond fast enough, so you say it first!
…the worst thing is, when the dad is working from home (or mom!!!)
…you know what a S’MORE is (they are soooo good)
…you spent all your money at the MALL and you still have nothing to wear
…you hate Dora, The Wiggles and Thomas
…you say silly instead of stupid
…you go to PLAYDATES
…you’ve seen more movies in one month than in your whole life at home
…you drive ove 30 minutes to a friend and you think it’s not far
…you only have other Au Pairs as your friends (besides one girl but shes a nanny, and she use to be an aupair so i guess it doesnt really count haha)
…you can make bacon (pretty sure i knew how to do this before!)
…you say ‘like’ and ‘totally’ every three words
…someone has asked you stupid questions like:
- ‘do you have cars in your country?’ – ‘You don’t have Valentine’s day?’ – ‘Where is your country?’ (yes! the other day someone asked what language we speak in australia and i had to do everything in my power not to SLAP THEM DOWN! other ones that take the cake are 'do u have traffic lights there' and 'are your native people civilized')
…you don’t think it’s wrong to have cake AND ice cream
…you park as close to the store as possible so you don’t have to walk even one yard too far
…you cherish moments of silence more than ever before
…you notice yourself saying ‘GOOD JOB’ a hundred times a day
…you wonder why you slept the whole night long so uncomfortable and you notice the next morning, you slept on a barbie, a lollypop, sandtoys etc.
…you need to be creative to find new punishments because a time-out doesn’t work anymore
…you have to admit to mistakes you never did or put the blame on you day for day (this is so draining and true and frustrating)
…you’re sure you don’t want own kids within the next 100 years (haha oh god no)
…you know now exactly how difficult it was for your parents to have little kids and you feel like saying thanks for all you’ve done to your mum and dad every day (oops haha was i really this bad? haha)
…you’re ready to drink anytime of the day
…you start to love disney movies again and can copy every passage of them (pretty sure i have always and will always love disney movies)
…you’ve learned what it means to be patient
…you know what a LCC is
…you know that you should never SHAKE A BABY !!! (knew this before)
…you take a nap, after you dropped of the kids at school(after being up for just 2h )
…you are DRIVING to the busstop to pick up your kids, which is only 200 meters from your house.
…the kids call you mum cause you spend too much time with them… (happened for the first time this week haha)
…you think $200 every weekend just for shopping and coffee are not that much
…one cup of coffee doesn`t make you awake anymore, it just makes you alive
…you or your friends are KELLERKINDER!!!! (shoits, froielin!!!)
…you miss the good ol’ days when you were able to go to the bakery and get real bread w/ real butter (not that American shit called bread..haha) (omg its ridiculous, bread here is like candy. not ok)
…you don’t walk into the bank, you use the drive inn to get your money (well my friends drive us)
…you use Purell instead of washing your hands
…instead of singing song from the radio your singing childrens songs
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
New York Scavenger Hunt
Saturday that just passed, I didn't do anything with the girls during the day, just a night at the river.
Sunday that just passsed, was the big aupair New York scavenger hunt. It was suppose to be 700 aupairs from new york, new jersey and conneticut but to me it looked like maybe a bit more then 300 turned up. Team aussie was me, Sarah, Steph & our honourary Frannie who had done the hunt last year. She told us about 5 or so things that she remembered from last year which were like subway cars, empty starbucks cards or bags - things that were pretty easy to get anyway. The other aussie team was Alice & Alissa who had done it last year plus Emily & Danyale. As well as the things they remembered from last year, they also found the list of scavenger items online the day before the hunt and so had bought most of the items from home. A few aussie friends didn't want to do the hunt so they stayed home for the day. I noticed a lot of aupairs came and signed in, then left without doing the hunt - how boring!
We started on the steps of the library and got handed the list at 10.30 and the race began! We had a list of questions to answer about ourselves, about new york and then a list of things to find around the city. It ranged from mundane things like napkins, fortune cookies, straws, chopsticks to more new york things like pretzels, something yankees, something empire state, times sq movie stub etc. I was really proud of myself because I answered about 75% of the new york questions by myself then we googled the rest and asked my host mom about 4.
It was so much fun running around midtown like crazy people trying to get impossible things like hotel recipets, broadway ticket stubs and airplane boarding passes (come on!) and we had so much fun being inventive like putting items together 'pencil' and 'something with big apple on it'....and then even more creative when it said things such as two dollar bill, and as its very hard to find an american one, we used a singapore one instead!!
The race finished at 1230 at Washington Square Park and we waited for about an hour to have the winners announced. Alice and ALissa's team won with 130 points. They got $25 off silverbay each and $25 prepaid visa card each. My team came second!!! With 106 points and got $15 giftcards. We were so so proud of ourselves and most of all had an absolute blast! We got such a high score, especially for our first time!
After we finished we were all tired and exhausted and headed to Whole foods (awesome organic supermarket with a lot of premade salads, hot meals, sandwiches, etc) for a delicious lunch before train home to make it in time for Frannie's host mom's BBQ for Fran's going away. We met her host parents and kids for the first time, and had a great time all the aussies together (me, sarah, steph, frannie, alice, alissa, jade, emily, emma) taking photos and telling stories about how we first met Frannie. It was really sad, but it will be worse this SUnday because that is when we are throwing her going away just from us aussie girls without her host parents, and then she leaves MOnday morning. After the BBQ, the four of us (sarah, steph, fran, me) headed to our fav hangout, the river, and were in the most active, giggly, crazy mood - we took lots of photos and had lots of laughs.
This was definitly one of the top ten days this year.
Sunday that just passsed, was the big aupair New York scavenger hunt. It was suppose to be 700 aupairs from new york, new jersey and conneticut but to me it looked like maybe a bit more then 300 turned up. Team aussie was me, Sarah, Steph & our honourary Frannie who had done the hunt last year. She told us about 5 or so things that she remembered from last year which were like subway cars, empty starbucks cards or bags - things that were pretty easy to get anyway. The other aussie team was Alice & Alissa who had done it last year plus Emily & Danyale. As well as the things they remembered from last year, they also found the list of scavenger items online the day before the hunt and so had bought most of the items from home. A few aussie friends didn't want to do the hunt so they stayed home for the day. I noticed a lot of aupairs came and signed in, then left without doing the hunt - how boring!
We started on the steps of the library and got handed the list at 10.30 and the race began! We had a list of questions to answer about ourselves, about new york and then a list of things to find around the city. It ranged from mundane things like napkins, fortune cookies, straws, chopsticks to more new york things like pretzels, something yankees, something empire state, times sq movie stub etc. I was really proud of myself because I answered about 75% of the new york questions by myself then we googled the rest and asked my host mom about 4.
It was so much fun running around midtown like crazy people trying to get impossible things like hotel recipets, broadway ticket stubs and airplane boarding passes (come on!) and we had so much fun being inventive like putting items together 'pencil' and 'something with big apple on it'....and then even more creative when it said things such as two dollar bill, and as its very hard to find an american one, we used a singapore one instead!!
The race finished at 1230 at Washington Square Park and we waited for about an hour to have the winners announced. Alice and ALissa's team won with 130 points. They got $25 off silverbay each and $25 prepaid visa card each. My team came second!!! With 106 points and got $15 giftcards. We were so so proud of ourselves and most of all had an absolute blast! We got such a high score, especially for our first time!
After we finished we were all tired and exhausted and headed to Whole foods (awesome organic supermarket with a lot of premade salads, hot meals, sandwiches, etc) for a delicious lunch before train home to make it in time for Frannie's host mom's BBQ for Fran's going away. We met her host parents and kids for the first time, and had a great time all the aussies together (me, sarah, steph, frannie, alice, alissa, jade, emily, emma) taking photos and telling stories about how we first met Frannie. It was really sad, but it will be worse this SUnday because that is when we are throwing her going away just from us aussie girls without her host parents, and then she leaves MOnday morning. After the BBQ, the four of us (sarah, steph, fran, me) headed to our fav hangout, the river, and were in the most active, giggly, crazy mood - we took lots of photos and had lots of laughs.
This was definitly one of the top ten days this year.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Coney Island and more
So when I last left you, I was coming off a few quiet weekends and hoping for a big weekend in the city. I've definitly had that now! The past two weekends have been awesome! Starting with first week of September (5/6)...
Saturday morning we all got an early train, Sarah and Steph on one line, me and Frannie on the other, and met at Grand Central. We then got onto a 45 minute subway ride into Brooklyn so we could go to Coney Island. When you consider that Hastings where I live is only about 30 minutes from the city, thats one lonnnnnnnnng subway ride. But we had one of the nicer subways and it wasn't busy so we all got a seat. We were really worried as the subway passed Coney Island, because none of the rides were moving. We'd taken the 9am trains to assure us to get into the city realtively early and when we stepped off the subway it was about 11.30am and no rides were operating! We walked in the direction that the few crowds of people we going, and walked past the famous 'Nathans' a good hot dog place. We saw a really small flea market which basically just had cheap perfume and sunnies - oh and kebabs and dead pigs on the grill grossssss. Then at noon, all the rides started up - big collective sigh of relief!
We walked onto the boardwalk - which was really nice with a few sideshow games, souvinear shops and carnnie/beach food. The beach looked amazing and lots of people were there as it was a 3 days weekend cuz of Labour day. The mini amusement park/carnival is right on the boardwalk, so right next to the beach. There is two famous rides we all wanted to go on - the wonder wheel (ferris wheel) which offered amazing views of the beach, boardwalk and all of Coney Island. After that we got some awful booth photos and then all but Steph went on the infamous Cyclone wooden rollercoaster. It was crazy, so many dips and so fast and jolty.
We then had carnie food - I had corn on the cob and fries. By now it was about 2 or 3, and we decided to head back to Manhattan and go to the Museum of Sex. It was really interesting they had their permenant collection then two exhibitions one about animals and sex, the other about sex and the moving image. It wasn't at all dirty or seedy.
After the museum I was keen for dinner in the city, but the girls wanted to go back to westchester. We ended up getting stuck at Steph's place without a car, so we ended up having chinese delivered!
Next day same girls and I went to the Palisades, which is the 2nd largest shopping centre in all of America. Its about 30 minute drive from my place, over this big bridge over the Hudson. I didn't buy anything (except some aussie chocolates, wooh) and we met Alice & Alissa (lismore girls) for dinner at our favourite restaurant The Cheesecake Factory.
Monday was Labour Day so a few of us had work off. I didn't do much, just chilled at home for a while catching up on stuff, then met girls for starbucks for a bit, then home for a nap, then chilling at the river (best way to end the night!)
Saturday morning we all got an early train, Sarah and Steph on one line, me and Frannie on the other, and met at Grand Central. We then got onto a 45 minute subway ride into Brooklyn so we could go to Coney Island. When you consider that Hastings where I live is only about 30 minutes from the city, thats one lonnnnnnnnng subway ride. But we had one of the nicer subways and it wasn't busy so we all got a seat. We were really worried as the subway passed Coney Island, because none of the rides were moving. We'd taken the 9am trains to assure us to get into the city realtively early and when we stepped off the subway it was about 11.30am and no rides were operating! We walked in the direction that the few crowds of people we going, and walked past the famous 'Nathans' a good hot dog place. We saw a really small flea market which basically just had cheap perfume and sunnies - oh and kebabs and dead pigs on the grill grossssss. Then at noon, all the rides started up - big collective sigh of relief!
We walked onto the boardwalk - which was really nice with a few sideshow games, souvinear shops and carnnie/beach food. The beach looked amazing and lots of people were there as it was a 3 days weekend cuz of Labour day. The mini amusement park/carnival is right on the boardwalk, so right next to the beach. There is two famous rides we all wanted to go on - the wonder wheel (ferris wheel) which offered amazing views of the beach, boardwalk and all of Coney Island. After that we got some awful booth photos and then all but Steph went on the infamous Cyclone wooden rollercoaster. It was crazy, so many dips and so fast and jolty.
We then had carnie food - I had corn on the cob and fries. By now it was about 2 or 3, and we decided to head back to Manhattan and go to the Museum of Sex. It was really interesting they had their permenant collection then two exhibitions one about animals and sex, the other about sex and the moving image. It wasn't at all dirty or seedy.
After the museum I was keen for dinner in the city, but the girls wanted to go back to westchester. We ended up getting stuck at Steph's place without a car, so we ended up having chinese delivered!
Next day same girls and I went to the Palisades, which is the 2nd largest shopping centre in all of America. Its about 30 minute drive from my place, over this big bridge over the Hudson. I didn't buy anything (except some aussie chocolates, wooh) and we met Alice & Alissa (lismore girls) for dinner at our favourite restaurant The Cheesecake Factory.
Monday was Labour Day so a few of us had work off. I didn't do much, just chilled at home for a while catching up on stuff, then met girls for starbucks for a bit, then home for a nap, then chilling at the river (best way to end the night!)
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