Whale Pirates

Woohoo! I just love this. The Australian Labour Party has plans to intercept Japanese whaling ships. But as this action will be taking place in international waters, some have labelled it an 'act of piracy'. Yeah, I can just see Kevin Rudd (Labour leader) with some dreddies and eyeliner leading his party of politician pirates to intercept the harpoons and save the whales.

I admire the sentiment but I have some concerns that this will come to fruition. Is it just me or do politicians tend to not tell the truth? [insert rolling eyes emoticon here] All jesting aside, something more drastic has to be done about Japanese whaling in international waters. I guarantee the average Japanese person wouldn't even realise if whale meat stopped being available in Japan. From my experience, it's a rare person nowadays in Japan that eats whale meat and it takes some looking to even find it in the odd supermarket.

Story here: Rudd defends plan to intercept Japanese whalers

Alcoholism and homosexuality

Ahh, that title gotcha huh?!

This train of thought was spurred from watching Oprah yesterday (i'm on a sabbatical, leave me alone). Oprah was interviewing the author Terry McMillan (How Stella Got Her Groove Back) about her ex-husband who told her after 6 years of marriage that he was gay (interview and pics). Terry was very hurt and angry over the incident and kept repeating, 'how could he not know he was gay, that's like saying you're an alcoholic without ever having a drink'.

Huh? Say what? Is it just me, or does that not fit?

Alcoholism or any addictive behaviour requires one to first do that behaviour, to then become addicted to it. While our sexuality is an ingrained part of us. Without getting into the nature/nuture debate, I think it is a fairly well accepted fact that one does not choose to be gay or lesbian or heterosexual or other. Hell who'd want to choose a life with so much bigotry aimed at you and your loved ones?

So now, I think I have explained how her above example does not make sense. But as to her actual meaning in that message- 'how could he not know?'. He claimed that he grew up in a conservative country (Jamaica) and that homosexuality was not talked about, was not understood and that he didn't even think about the possibility that he was gay (when he was younger). Well, Opera and his ex-wife ripped into this guy for that confession. Opera started spouting things like, 'I know soooo many gay people and they all say they knew they were gay at 7, or they knew since they were born'. So? Good for those people. Wonderful that a child was so in touch with their sexuality at such a young age. Great that they were given the freedom of thought to be about to entertain all these different thought processes.

But come on, give this guy a break. I think it is totally plausible that he might not have realised he was gay until later in life. He married when he was 21 for goodness sake. I've been 21 and I know how much turmoil can go on in the mind at that time. And just to highlight that I don't consider this guy to be completely off the hook cause he did cheat on his wife and I don't give the time of day to cheaters. Anyone who ever cheats on me better hold on to their privates.

I wish I knew a gay person well enough to discuss this with them and get their point of view. Anyone out there have more to add on this? Gay or not, all are welcome here, including alcoholics....damn, think that's me....

Reality shows- Big Brother

I've been a bit of a fan of reality TV shows for a few years now. Before I left Australia to venture overseas, I watched Australia's first series of 'Big Brother'. I find reality shows and true stories in general more engaging than fiction. Anywho, being in Japan and away from reality shows (while they seemed to be at their peak of popularity in Australia) for a few years meant my appetite for reality shows was far from quenched. So here I am, back home and eager to get back into watching some reality shows again.

Pretty much the only reality TV show that has been on here the past few months has been 'The Biggest Loser'. I actually really enjoyed it and was surprised how emotionally attached I became to a few of the contestants. I even managed to get hubby interested in watching each week.

Then guess what starts up again only last week? Australia's sixth (!!) season of 'Big Brother', which effectively is only my second season. Now I don't know how the other four seasons went or what 'formula' worked for ratings for this show but I am seriously disappointed this season!

You want to know why? There are 14 people in the house and they all are PRETTY MUCH THE SAME. How utterly boring. They have chosen young, straight laced, thin, pretty, blond, white girls and young, straight laced, good looking, buff, white men. There are a couple of exceptions (a brunette girl who is still young thin and pretty though, a couple of guys from non-caucasian backgrounds and a less buff but amusing geek). Have a look Big Brother 07 Housemates.

Heellllloooo producers of 'Big Brother'. Variety is the spice of life. We want to see a mix of people in the house, not watch 'Barbie and Ken' plastic cut outs. And you know what really pissed me off? In the media lead up to this season of 'Big Brother' starting they had ads on TV saying, 'We promise this year's Big Brother will have people from all walks of life'. Yeah right, bull-shit!

From memory the first season of 'Big Brother' in Australia had a gay guy, a couple of larger women, a woman with dark skin, a dominatrix with an accent, a guy with a mohawk and generally a whole bunch of different looking, sounding and feeling people. And it was INTERESTING.

There is going to be an extra housemate come into the house sometime this week I think. They will have won a promotional competition and won't have been chosen by the producers, so let's keep everything crossed that it will be someone just a little....different.

'Big Brother', you better start pulling something better out to keep me interested this season.

Easter breakfast

Easter breakfast, originally uploaded by BeingWanderLust.

As this was his first Easter in Australia, I decided to make an old favourite for hubby's breakfast. Dippy eggs with soldiers. Which is a soft boiled egg with hot buttered toast.

So that, along with some hot cross buns and a chocolate bunny from Mum (I mean the Easter bunny) and we had a yummy Easter Sunday brekky.

Happy Easter

World swimming fight

Does anyone else find it an invasion of privacy that the argument/fight between a Ukrainian coach and his daughter at the world swimming championships in Melbourne was televised?? Fair enough the police stepped in as he did physically abuse her (and she him). But did the whole ugly thing really need to be shown so publicly? The poor girl must be so embarrassed. I hope it didn't stop her from swimming her best.

Story and pics here.

No poo in class thank you

What is it with men and their fascination with bodily functions and secretions? I hate to generalise but i'm talking about men in their early twenties acting like teenagers. I taught a class of young ESL students today and a group of four young men spent a good hour or more chatting away about their bodily functions!

Ah but they were speaking in English and therefore studying you say? Nope. Each time I set a pair/group discussion task, off they would go again talking about their poo in their own language.

Aaarrgghhh. How gross! They are adults! They have spent a whole heap of money to be here studying English! They are surrounded by students of other nationalities. Perfect opportunity to make new friends, learn a new lanaguage and expand your possibilities.

They choose poo. Good choice boys.

Picture perfect

Creek in the Dandenongs, originally uploaded by BeingWanderLust.

How is this for a relaxing spot? Hubby and I went for a drive in the Dandenong Mountains last weekend. We stopped and had a picnic of roast beef sandwiches and tea just near here. Then we went for a walk next to this creek.

Just the medicine to get the city out of your hair!

What kind of primate are you?

What kind of primate are you? A gibbon, an orangutan, a chimp or even a baboon?

I'm a gibbon; see here.

Thanks Mum

This beautiful big bunch of flowers was sent from my Mum, Dad and a friend. My husband and I had a loss recently and Mum wanted to cheer us up.

Thanks Mum.

Valentines Day

I made a chocolate cake. Thanks to CacaoWeb.net for the easy and yummy recipe.



Hubby gave me a beautiful red rose. I gave hubby a cute teddy bear. Sounds corny I know but he didn't have a teddy bear! No grown adult should be without their very own teddy bear.


Guess what hubby named it? Kuma. Which is 'bear' in Japanese. Not sure if i'll let him name any future kids....

Baking bug

Sunday was rainy and nice and cool here, so I got the baking bug.

First it was difficult trying to decide what to cook (I had narrowed it down to something sweet as I had a craving for it- usually I prefer savoury).

Here are a couple of the numerous cookbooks I have inherited from two Grandmothers and my Mum.

I decided on a Rasberry Coconut Slice. I didn't realise until after I baked it that it was a recipe my Grandmother used to make. As soon as I had the first bite, the memories came back. I then found out it is my Dad's favourite slice. Too bad i'm almost two states away, sorry Dad.

Then I made some cranberry cupcakes.

Book Meme - or let's play tag

Medea tagged me for this game and i'm glad she did, as it prompted me to come back to my blog. I've been flat out with work recently and let posting to my blog slide. But here I am to play this game.

Here are the rules!
1) Grab the book closest to you
2) Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence
3) Post the text of the following 3 sentences on your blog
4) Name the author and book title
5) Tag two people to do the same

The thing was I wasn't sure what kind of book? Any book, even a text? The closest book to me was a grammar book of my husbands and very dry. So here are the details for it.

4 We haven't got lemon tea, but you could have mint one instead.
5 Those aren't your gloves. You must have picked up the wrong ones.
6 'What kind of cakes do you like best?' 'Ones with cream inside.'

Advanced Grammar in Use by Martin Hewings.


The next closest book book was this.

Now it is June, but the pair arrived in eastern Greenland from Scotland's Western Isles in late May, returning to their nest site of previous years. The ledge, as high as a 20-storey building, is safe from Arctic foxes, which would relish both eggs and adults. The female lined a hollow with lichen and down plucked from her breast, then laid four white eggs and covered them with more down.

The Wildlife Year by Reader's Digest.

I tag Meron-chan and India.

It's a New Year

Hello 2007! We managed to do quite a bit in 2006. Yutaka's visa was approved. Yutaka quit his job in Japan. We planned our move from Japan back to Oz. Moved back with my folks for a few months. Yutaka got a job in Melbourne. So again we moved, interstate this time. Then I got a job here too.

Phew.

So now to 2007. Not too many plans yet. My brother is getting married in February. My best friend is coming to stay in April with her new bub (due any day). And we hope to have a new addition to our family some time this year too.

What are your plans for 2007?

Chat Room

I've tried to get a little chat room up and running on this blog. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page, you should be able to see it. Please feel free to join and add comments/ask questions. I'd been trying to get a chat room working on another site I look after and thought i'd experiment here first.

Conflicting times

I don't like making decisions at the best of times but recently i've been getting crapier at it. I'm trying to look for work in Melbourne and have applied for a few jobs so far. I have two types of work i'm after. One that I first studied at uni but have had absolutely no experience in and another that I've been doing since I left uni. It seems I'm only employable for the latter type of work. Problem is....I don't enjoy it. Sometimes I hate doing that work.

I am so conflicted right now in this topsy turvy time in our lives. Should I just suck it up, work a job I hate and help us out financially? Or should I pursue the type of work I'd prefer to do. This would mean either retraining, or doing volunteer work in the field. Neither of which would be helping us financially.

I'm so torn. I know we need the money and this is the best time in our lives for both of us to work with no other family commitments. But then I think of the daily grind of doing that job that I really dislike...and it makes me feel helpless.

Damn, I wish we were rich, so I could just pursue whatever the hell I wanted to.

Mad Melbournites

We have moved once again. Yutaka got a job in Melbourne and now we're here. My first impression of Melbourne? The drivers here SUCK!

When I got here two weeks ago I the first thing I noticed was the excessive honking. I am used to the use of honking such as a short friendly one to say hi, or a long loud 'danger' type one but Melbourne people just sit on theirs. People honk needlessly, willy nilly all the time. Yutaka and I are forever trying to figure out who honked and why. Car horns have loss their shock value for most people here, no-one pays them any attention. Call me country but this sucks, it's just downright noisy.

Today I went grocery shopping and instead of going straight home I decided to drive around my suburb a little to try and get to know the area. I was driving down a road doing about 50km/h maybe in a 60km/h zone when I saw the (young male) driver of the car behind me moving his hands all around. I figured he thought I was going too slow, so I put my indicator on to take the next turn and get out of his way. As I turned and he sped past, what did he do? ......... He gave me the finger! At first I was just surprised but then I got soooooo angry!!!!! I may have been going a bit slow but I was not driving dangerously, nor did I deserve that.

So I turned back for home, trying to calm down. I had literally just made a right turn into my street when I heard a loud loooong honk by the car behind me. The middle aged male driver sped right up to my butt and proceeded to overtake me on the left! That's the kerbside in Australia. Then he sped past, up to the car in front of me and then overtook them too. This is on a 60km/h residential road!

Any more thoughts I had to continue exploring my neighbourhood by car today were totally out the window!! I wish so bad that I had gotten either of their numberplates. Now you may say, 'don't worry about them' or 'just drive slower to annoy them' but I can't handle it when people are angry around me, it rubs off on me too. These incidents today have actually made me feel less confident about driving around here. I am so mad with those two stupid men for making me feel like this.

I miss my country town.

Something in the water....

Do you know how many pregnant ladies (plus a couple who have just given birth) I know right now? Here is a bit of a list:

-my NZ friend from Japan just had her second son (he's a little cutie, hi J and T!)
-my best friend (due in December)
-a good Japanese friend I used to teach (also due in December)
-my brother's best friend's wife (sounds like a tenuous connection but this guy was like a brother to me when we were growing up)
-a couple of friends online, from a Foreign Wives Club (hi Fukuchan and Queenbee) plus a couple from there who have given birth recently
-a couple of my husband's university friend's wives
-hubby's good friend's wife

Sheesh, I reckon 2006 will be a baby boomer year.

Blogging lull

I haven't been blogging much lately. Could be the upheaval my life is going through. Could be lack of time to access the net and no broadband here at the folks place. Could be as I can't use my own PC with all my links. Could be i'm too busy writing job applications, working at the zoo and the international office and preparing for a TESOL conference this weekend. Or I could just be lazy.

A is the first letter

I have been tagged by Jazz to come up with 10 words starting with the letter 'A' that are meaningful in some way to me. 'A'?! Jazz, did you give me the hardest letter or what. Although, having giving it a couple of weeks thought (been away from my blog that long) I actually came up with more than 10. But here are my top 10 words starting with 'A'.

• animal - anyone who knows me will not be surprised that I put this word first. I have always been a sucker for animals. As a kid I grew up with dogs, cats, sheep, chicken, cows, ducks and various other assorted farm and native animals. At present I have a character of a cat Whisky, who makes me laugh so much.
• air - we all need it. Having just moved from Osaka to rural Australia, it certainly is something you notice right away. There is nothing better than a walk along the beach of an afternoon. Which leads into my next word..
• afternoon - my favourite time of day. Especially late afternoon/dusk. The kangaroos are out feeding, the kookaburras are laughing, people are coming home from work, dinner is being cooked and all is good in the world...
• anglo - that is me. Boring pasty white little me. See this previous post for more of my thoughts on that Being White, the new uncool?
• Australia - the country, the people, the lifestyle. I choose to live here.
• alcohol - specifically wine, any colour. I love it, I drink it, I occasionally get a sore head but I drink it again. After recently visiting the Yarra and Barossa valleys, I am even more in love with it.
• ABBA - I am not ashamed to admit that this group rocks. If I wanna fire up a party, or dance in my car seat, I reach for my Best of ABBA CD.
• abbreviation - as an Aussie this becomes a natural thing to do. We don't tend to like words of more than two or three syllables. Afternoon becomes arvo, barbecue becomes barbie, kangaroo becomes roo....yada yada... One new one I heard yesterday on JJJ was 'the comm games' for the Commonwealth games. But it just didn't sound right somehow.
• adventure - as a kid I loved adventure books where a group of children went on weird and wonderful journeys to faraway places and met many strange people along the way. As an adult, I feel i've been living this life for the past few years. I may get back to some sort of normality now i'm back in Oz though.
• antithesis - for no particular reason except for the way it sounds when said out loud. Say it and you'll know why I love it.

Alrighty then, now my turn to tag peoples. Ummm....who reads this blog who might want to do it... ah, Meronchan with the letter 'J' and Jacqui with the letter 'C'.