Boxing Day!

What is boxing day???

No, it's not the annual day for boxers to hang out and beat each other up.Nor is it the day that all breeds of boxers go out for their annual fun run.It's also not the day everyone runs around town with nothing but their boxers on.Or is it maybe the day that boxers, wearing boxers, take their boxers out for the annual fun run??? Hmmmm....something tells me not........So then does it have anything to do with actual boxes? There are a wide number of theories as to how this all started, including:* In churches, donations were paid into a locked box on Christmas Day to help the poor and the needy. The box was then opened on December the 26th, the day after Christmas day, and the money distributed on what became known as "Boxing Day".* In feudal times, after all the families had gathered together for Christmas festivities, the serfs with families in tow, would visit their lord at his manor house where under obligation, he would bestow upon them a box of goods such as grains, cloth and tools. Because of the boxes being given out, the day was called Boxing Day.* Because servants had to work on Christmas Day they were given the following day off. Unable to be with their own families to work on a such a traditional religious holiday and unable to have Christmas Dinner, the left over food from Christmas Day was boxed up and given to the servants and their families. * Later on in time, servants would carry boxes to their employers when they arrived for their day's work on the day after Christmas. Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts similar to today's Christmas bonus.

What is Boxing Day in Melbourne? It is the day everyone goes to the Cricket Test Match - so that's what we did. First, let me tell you about cricket. It is big and LONG...the Melbourne Cricket Grounds holds about 100,000 spectators. The match last 5 days for 7 hours each day, with two breaks each day: one for lunch and one for tea. So we got there at 11 and by the time the lunch break came, it was quite enough. So we walked from the cricket grounds to the city, but we could not escape the match. The square was set up with beach chairs and a close circuit broadcast of the match.

Christmas in the city

We spent the day walking around the city and experiencing holidays in the summer. The main street was decorated with shiny stars and a Christmas tree. I guess Santa (who is supposed to be hanging out in the white tent next to the tree) has already gone back the North Pole. It is way too hot for that red suit! Don't let my sweater fool you. It was over 85 degrees this day.

The major department store has a massive window display each year. This year instead of focusing on Christmas, it was focused on the environment.

I didn't have to look much further for the Opera House than out the window of my office. It is the AMP building in the picture. Directly behind me is the Sydney Harbor and the Opera House. It is only temporary office space - there are only two of us now and I work half the time in Melbourne. We hit the ground running when I got there. We interviewed six candidates to get the office up and running. In the next couple of months we will find more permanent office space.

While I was figuring out the new office, Sean was moving us from the Saville to our new house. He says that it's coming together. To get all of the utilities set up we need to go in person to all of the places - to the internet store, to the telephone store, to the cable store. It's pretty crazy that you can't do these types of things on the computer or over the phone and it takes at least two weeks to get anything up and running.

First Trip to Sydney

I went to Sydney for the week. Boy is air travel different in Australia. The first difference is there is absolutely no security! Not once did anyone check an ID or even care if I was who my ticket said I was. People are still allowed to the gates to greet people arriving or to send them off. It took all of 5 minutes to get from the cab, to the ticket counter, through security and to my gate. The other major difference is the people at Quantas (the major Australian airline) do not care that I flew almost 100,000 miles on United this year. They wouldn't let me on an earlier flight and no upgrades for Melissa :(

Starwood does care though! This is the picture lying on the bed in my hotel room! SERIOUSLY. I was in a beautiful corner suite with floor to ceiling windows. Sydney is beautiful. It is much more modern than Melbourne and more similar to a US city. Haven't seen much yet. On the look out for the Opera House though!

We found a house!

We found a house and they accepted our application - which is a pretty tough feat when you are an American on a work Visa.

It is on a very little road right two blocks from the beach and right off the main street in Albert Park. It is a short tram ride to the CBD (Central Business District) where Sean's office is.

It is nice size for here and has alot of light. We splurged for some place a little bigger since so many of you promised you would be visiting ;)
My office will be the second bedroom and has a nice view of the city skyline. I think if you look really hard you can see the beach from our bedroom.

Sean went into the office this week. He seems to like the people he is working with. They are pretty much the same as the people in DC :)

I am going to Sydney next week to work at the CEB office. There are just two of us, but it will be fun to talk to someone else. Given we haven't gotten out much, we have yet to make some friends. Perfect timing for my travel - Sean will take care of the move while I am gone. Coincidence?

Still haven't seen any kangaroos

December 9, 2007

Maybe because this is what I did on my first weekend living in another country. This is me sleeping through the Accenture Christmas party - oops! It's Q4, what can you expect?

Yes - we are still in the hotel.

Figuring out where to live

December 4, 2007

First full day - I am still working US hours so got up at 4. Since it's summer here (I know, it's snowing at home), the sun comes up at 5:30 so it's not too bad. The partying and yelling in the streets doesn't stop until around 4:30 though so I am getting up when most of the city seems to be going to bed. After work (mid afternoon), we took the tram to the "bay side" to check out some of the beach neighborhoods we are considering living.

Everyone is pretty laid back here. The public transportation is nice and convenient, but it's not getting you anywhere fast. We have been taking trams which are similar to the cable cars in SF. And the internet makes the trams look speedy, the "high speed" is slower than US dial up. AHHH!

Arriving in Australia

December 3, 2007

After 26 hours of travel we finally arrived in Australia - it was raining! All the National Geographic specials Sean made me watch made it seem like this was the driest place on Earth. The flight - for those of you who have said you are going to visit, it's not that bad. We flew from DC to LA to Sydney to Melbourne...and I slept almost the whole way! The craziest thing is we left on December 1 and arrived on December 3. It's about an hour cab ride to the city. We were those people in the airport that have so many bags you ask yourself why they didn't just ship it.

We are staying right in the city in temporary housing. This is the view from our balcony. And to everyone who's dying to know...the toilets just flush down! The water doesn't go in any direction. As mom said, alot of people are going to be disappointed.