Snoozin

Ok, so, I spent the whole day yesterday not knowing the Super Bowl score, only to fall asleep in the last 5 mins of the game!  I was in STRUGGLESVILLE!  The game was scheduled to start at 1030pm.  I am thinking, I got this.  No big deal, I can stay up late.  Ughh, not the case!  The game didn't actually start until 11 and I fell asleep at almost 230am.  Every time a commercial would come on, I would try to pass out.  And we don't get the superbowl commercials here, obvs.  Honestly, don't get me started on commercials here in general.  There are about 7 ads that they just play over and over again.  And they're not even fun product-selling ads, no catchy jingles.  It's all "this child has cancer" "this woman suffers from depression..."  I am getting depression from watching them!  And how to "Be Croc Wise."  LOL.  But, sadly, Pats lost and I missed this controversial last minute because I was snoozin! I am sure everyone's heard Giselle's statement that her husband cannot both pass and receive the ball.  She's got a point, lol!

I am still pissed that I couldnt stay up.  I even had Sam Adams beer and made chicken wings -- obvs I still ate the chicken wings, but even they didn't keep me awake.  I did enjoy the half time show though, even though I had no idea what was going on.  Madonna has moves!  Still didn't like the Nicki Minaj though, I am such a hater of her.  Hi Hater!

In Darwin news, crocs are running wild.  There was a 10 foot croc found in the backyard of a woman whose daughter was eaten by a croc 3 years ago!  The croc apparently tried to eat her boyfriend!  She lives in an area near the water.... Lady, it's time to move!  We are also heading into a dry spell and it is not supposed to rain for the next 10 or so days.  Not always a good thing as it gets so unbelievably hot and the rain kinda breaks that heat a little bit.  

Oh Christmas Tree

Damn I wish this picture had come out better, but I already felt bad taking it.  This is an Australian Christmas Tree, taken at one of Jason's friend's homes in Canberra.  I totally lost it when I saw this tree.  Most peeps here have fake trees, given that the holidays are in the summer and evergreens don't really grow here -- although they are claiming this tree to be an evergreen.  I could see the branches hitting the window from outside and I thought, do they have a real tree here???  When I saw the tree up close I was laughing so hard I thought I would pee.  I really thought they cut it down from the back yard,  but apparently it's from a florist.  By far, one of the top trees I have ever seen!

Aussie sports

Today being Superbowl Sunday, er Monday, here, I figured I would post about how Aussie sports are, on average, far inferior to American sports -- obvs.  No football or baseball here, but effing AFL, rugby, and worst of all, "the cricket."  AFL (known as "the footy") is nuts, the field is enormous, I don't even know how you could run that far.  It looks to me like what you would get if you combined soccer and football, but that's probably not accurate.  Rugby is rugby, but there's like several different kinds, so I don't get that either.  Lots of tackling and throwing the ball backwards.

The Cricket is the def the worst one.  IT IS ALWAYS ON!  I know the most about the cricket (which is not much) because it is on everyday, and everyday I am forced to watch it.  There are 3 kinds of cricket.  Test cricket goes for several days --  yes, one game lasts several days. They play like 9-5 everyday, stopping for lunch and tea.  Yes, tea.  Then there is the one day cricket, which lasts just one day.  I think that is called 20/20 Cricket.  Then there is fast cricket, which goes just a few hours.  I feel like they are always playing India.  Basically, some guy called the bowler runs at the batsman and throws the ball trying to hit 3 sticks called the wicket.  The batsman tries to hit the ball with this bat that looks like a paddle. If he hits it, he runs a short distance and that is one run.  Players can get like 300 runs a piece, they stay up there for fucking ever.  And 2 people are batting at a time.  That is my interpretation of what's going on, which is probably wrong.  The cricket is the 2nd most popular sport in the world after soccer!

Needless to say, we don't really have any of these sports in Darwin because it is too hot to play here.  I have been to one rugby match and that's it.  And everything is "the."  "You watch the cricket, mate?" "Nah mate, I watched the footy."  "Good on ya!" LOL

Go Pats!

So I can't go on most major websites today or watch tv because I dont want to know the score of the super bowl.  I am not watching it for another 13.5 hours -- it's on live right now, but I don't want to watch alone.  And if I am going to be drinking at 9am, I dont want to do that alone either.  So waiting solves both the watching and drinking alone problems and I will see it when it's re-aired at 1030pm. I would also like to know what peeps think of the Madonna half time show.  This I dont mind hearing about in advance, not that I think anyone is going to read this any time soon...  But really, am I the only one who has been so over Madonna for like a million years?  I like that one song from maybe 2005 - hung up on you or hanging up on you.  Whatever, but even that is 7 years ago.  And how can I forget Nicki Minaj???  UGH.  Who likes her?  Really?  Ok, I admit that turn me on song was great for running, but it's sooooo overplayed -- even on commercials here.  Her "rapping" is ridiculous, she is like female Kanye, but not nearly as good/insane.  I think BIEBER would be a good half time show :)

I have a job interview on Friday.  It's with the NT department of local government and regional services.  I really need to get this job, so please say your prayers to whoever you pray to that they hire me.  Please do a lot of praying.  As you know, govt jobs are never easy to get initially, but once you're in, you're in. And I need to be in! But moreover, it would be a great opportunity for me to get involved here and start my own network.  I still don't feel like I really "live" here yet.

It was a pretty uneventful weekend.  Jason was working, so I rolled solo for most of it.  I made my first ever scrapbook with pics from our trip.  Fuck, this scrapbooking shit is expensive...and a pain in the ass!  I really like the way it came out, but don't know if I could make another one anytime soon.  It took me forever, and all that cutting and pasting made a huge mess!  I also made dinner in the crock pot, so I am a full blown stay at home mom, minus the kids.  Word of advice, if the recipe calls for a can of frozen orange juice and lime juice, and the frozen OJ is not available, you cant just throw in oranges and limes.  My Cuban pulled pork tasted like an orange rind.  NOT delicious.  

Books

I mentioned in the last post that books are super expensive here -- paper costs more?  Idk.  And also my kindle is fucked, so e-version is not an option.  Anyway, I know with the movie coming out, there has been a lot of hype around The Hunger Games.  I saw it at Big W yesterday (aka Aussie Walmart) "on sale" for $18.  Should I get it?  Is it worth the likely $60 I will end up dropping if I read all of them?  I would go to the library, but you know they never have the "trendy" books.  Who's read it?  Is it another Twilight?  Not that that's a bad thing, just want to know what I am getting into.  

Outrageous Aussie Prices

When I first came to Australia last year, I could NOT believe the prices. I mean, some things you expect are going to be pricier than in America -- like gas ("petrol" as it's called here).  Gas is about $1.60 a liter, which comes out to be about $6 a gallon. You can imagine how much we spent on gas on the xcountry trip!  But it is pretty common knowledge that although we bitch about gas prices in America, they are way lower than most of the world.  However, I was not prepared to pay $3 for a can of coke in a convenient store.

I think the worst one so far was hydrogen peroxide.  As you might know, one of my favorite hobbies is diagnosing myself with some illness based off information I found on the web.  I wouldn't say I am a hypochondriac, although others might disagree with me.  Anyway, I recently came to the conclusion that I had gum disease, which could be fixed with a new flossing technique and brushing daily with hydrogen peroxide.  I was immediately in the drug store (called the "chemist" here, wtf) to purchase the necessary remedy.  I could not believe my eyes, a regular size bottle, maybe 99 cents at home, was $13!  There must be some mistake!  The small bottle, only 300 mls, was $8.  I brought it to the register and asked if this was the correct price.  Then I reluctantly forked over my $8 :-(  (on a side note, I have now determined my gum disease is cured, so this remedy works!)

OMFG WTF!  Hydrogen peroxide is hydrogen and oxygen!  How the fuck are they charging so much for it???  Also shocking, $8 for rubbing alcohol!  I just don't get how they get away with this!!

Other insane prices I have encountered:
Groceries:  I never leave the grocery store without dropping $50 for one bag full.  Seriously, we need a Market Basket here stat.  Especially crazy items are iceberg lettuce $3.50 a head, sliced roast chicken from the deli at around $14 lb (sold in kilos here, obvs -- about $30 a kilo), cage free eggs (not organic) $6 dozen, butter comes 2 sticks for about $4, instant coffee (very popular here) $20 a jar.  I could go on and on.

Powerade or Vitamin Water:  $4 a bottle.  No, they are not bigger bottles.

McDonalds:  I ate here once on the road trip.  It is not a cheap alternative!  Between the 2 of us, we had one quarter pounder, one 10 piece nugget, and one chicken sandwich -- no fries, no drinks (they don't have combos)........................... TWENTY TWO DOLLARS!!

Beer/booze in general:  Ok, now this is a real problem for me.  I like drinking, it's no secret.  A case of non-imported Australian beer runs you about 50$.  Yes, there are 24 in a case.  Imports are anywhere between 55-85$.  You don't even want to know what a case of bud would cost.  Liquor is terrible too.  Expect to pay about $90 for a bottle of Grey Goose, and that's not the big bottle.  Also popular here are pre-mixed drinks, like cans of Jack and Coke.  It's a normal strength drink, equivalent to a beer, comes 24 in a case...for $95.  Wine - thankfully - is cheaper, but I swear a lot of these Australian wines are sold cheaper in the US!  Trader Joe's staple Yellow Tail will run you about $15.

Toiletries: Don't judge, but I wash my hair far less here because shampoo is so expensive.  When I first got here, I was swimming a lot to keep cool.  Then my hair started falling out from the salt water and chemicals. I went to the salon and got a regular sized reconstructing shampoo, conditioner, and a leave in conditioner.  That came to $87.  Even shit shampoos like Garnier cost around $12.  Needless to say, I don't go in the pool often, and def not if I have recently washed my hair.  Maybelline lipstick is $22.  Body wash, around $10.  Oh and I got a haircut.  They didn't even wash my hair, just wet it - $65.  I almost fell over.  And I hated the cut.

Books: I broke my kindle packing it in my suitcase to come here.  Apparently it didn't like when I sat on the  top to zip it up, because the screen has totally shit the bed.  I have bought one paperback book since being here - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  Not a new release, $22.  OUCH!  Really need to get that kindle situation sorted.

I haven't really bought any clothes, but word is they are they might be the craziest.  Don't expect to pay less than $100 for sneakers.  Electronics are twice the price in general.  Oh, almost forgot!  I obvs need a KitchenAid standing mixer for my kitchen.  Well, maybe I don't, considering they retail for $800.

You get the point.  

Muppet of a man

Off topic, but since this blog is basically a forum for me to complain about anything, I will now complain about the Oscar nominations.  First off, Moneyball is not the shit!  I asked Amski to see it back in September or whenever it came out, and she was like I don't want to see that shit.  It opened way later here, I think November, so I dragged Jason to it and I remember asking him after about an hour if it was ending soon because I felt like I had been watching it forever.  And what's with them making it seem like the daughter wrote that "caught in the middle" song??  -- which was stuck in my head for days, btw.  The only reason I bring it up is peeps are making the biggest deal over it here, Moneyball this, Brad Pitt that.  Peeps here saying they are going to be A's fans now, wtf??  I did enjoy Jonah Hill though, I am not usually a fan.  BP was ok, too but I can't really take him seriously anymore.

The only other nominated film I saw was The Help, which I enjoyed.  I feel bad for that Skeeter chick because she seems to be the only one not nominated for something.  The other movies look really bad!  Except for the Descendants, which I want to see.  Especially bad-looking is War Horse!  The dude falls in love with his horse -- snooooooooooze.

I was happy to see Muppets got a nomination -- although they should have been in best picture category.  But "Man or Muppet" is up for best song, and that song is awesome!  Muppets rule, everyone knows.  Remember when Muppets came out in theaters and Fox News was all pissed off because they thought the movie attacked the oil industry and Muppets were teaching kids to be Communists???  Miss Piggy has fired back at a UK press conference!  So good :)  (maybe you guys already know about this, I feel a little behind here).

PS A Muppet press conference is amazing, all in itself.