...9 Months Later...

Nope, not a birth announcement. LOL. We landed in Sydney 9 months ago today on Sunday, 22 January. We were exhausted and excited. Prepared and naive. Unsure and confident.

I'm a pretty forward thinking gal, but I also like to look back and marvel at how far my family has come (both literally and figuratively) during this amazing chapter of our lives.

We landed in Sydney with 12 suitcases, four rucksacks, two car seats, a laptop bag and two carry-ons. And each other. We've set-up a life here and made damn fine friends.

One of my favorite pics. Most of our stuff lined up just before leaving Arkansas.

Thanks to GPS we get around just fine, either by public transit (mostly Aaron) or car (mostly me and the kids). We grocery shop, go to swimming lessons, play on team sports and just live life. We've found medical care, a dentist, a dry cleaner (she could / should be her own blog post! Ha!) and just do life. And Aaron works, of course. 

I speak to my grandma (really, Aaron's grandma but that's just semantics as I've always felt like her granddaughter) a few times each week. Every so often, she gushes to me about how proud she is of Aaron, the boys, me and us as a family. I always thank her sincerely for her kind and supportive words. And you know what? I'm damn proud of us, too! We moved to the other side of the world and have made a life! That takes some guts.

E took this pic from the backseat one day while driving over the Anzac Bridge.

The perennial questions of our lives seem to be "how long will you be here" and "where to next?" I don't have answers to either of those. We made an 18-month commitment, which puts us mid-way through our Sydney chapter. There may be an epilogue. There may not. I don't try to predict the future. I do try to live in the moment and enjoy each day I am on this earth. Wherever we are together is home. 💖

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

When we arrived to Australia in January, the boys and I toured the city until school started. One of our first activities was an awesome Junior Adventure Day at the Opera House. I remember vaguely a lovely spiel welcoming us to the land. I honestly didn't pay much attention to it.

As the weeks flew along and I attended more functions and tours, I realized that lovely spiel from the Opera House is an incredibly beautiful and respectful display called Welcome to and Acknowledgement of Country (two separate but complementary recognitions).

Welcome to Country is public recognition that the land we are on -- the land where the festival or event or museum tour or school fete is taking place -- once belonged to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders.

Protocol for welcoming a foreigner to new land has been part of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture for thousands of years. Once a visitor was granted permission to enter a foreign land its residents would formally welcome said visitor, offering them safe passage and protection during their journey.

Imagine if on your next US road trip across state boundaries the residents of a state you were crossing into formally welcomed you. The road signs welcoming us are nice, but this is a whole new ball game!

Thanks for the photo, Chris Hill / EquipmentWorld.com

The essential elements of welcoming visitors and offering safe passage remain in place here in Australia. A Welcome to Country occurs at the beginning of a formal event and can take many forms including singing, dancing, smoking ceremonies, or a speech in traditional language or English. I've only been privy to a speech. Welcome to Country is delivered by Traditional Owners or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who have been given permission from Traditional Owners, to welcome visitors to their Country. It is a great honour to be given this permission, and I feel it is a great honour to be part of recognizing the land's original owners. I tear up nearly every time.

Acknowledgement of Country is a bit different, but equally as important. Anyone can deliver an Acknowledgement of Country. It's an opportunity for everyone to show respect for the land's Traditional Owners and the continuing connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to Country.

Here's an example of an Acknowledgement of Country poster from Twinkl.com

But why all of these acknowledgements? (Really...? Really...? Sigh.) There is a long and sad history in Australia of excluding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders from history books, Australian heritage (flag, anthem, etc) and Australian democracy. Recognizing and including all who dwell on land -- past, present and future -- is a small but mighty reminder of the importance of treating every human with dignity and respect.

Here's a beautiful Welcome to and Acknowledgement of Country given by Deborah Lennis at the recent school fete I planned.

These recognitions are beautiful and important. Imagine what other nations might be like if we took just a few minutes out of an event or special occasion to recognize the land we're using, and pay gratitude and R-E-S-P-E-C-T to the indigenous people of the area.

Translation: biscuits at the cake stall

Some time ago, I wrote about language / phrase / name differences we've found in Australia.

As we've grown more comfortable and familiar with our surroundings, I thought it would be fun to give an updated list of some of these different phrases.

"How you going" is a very common greeting. I've only once been greeted by someone who said "g'day." At least among my friends and my daily routine, g'day isn't common.

Lollies are candy.

A cake stall is a bake sale.

The tuck shop is a canteen.

Your rucksack is your backpack.

A drink bottle is a water bottle.

Your mate is your friend / pal / buddy.

Biscuits are (often) cookies (but usually more like a shortbread vs. soft cookie).

Your lunch sack is your lunch bag.

The arvo is the afternoon.

Rego is registration.

A mozzie is a mosquito.

Tassie is Tasmania.

To whinge is to whine.

Cheese toasties are grilled cheese.

The chemist is the pharmacy / drug store.

Your bub is your baby. Your nan is your grandma. Your mum is your mom.

And Melbourne is not pronounced Mel-burn. It's Mel-bun.

I don't necessarily agree with all of these, but I thought it was fun!

That is today's public service announcement. Cheers, mate!