Australia, United States

Guest Blog: Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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With the holiday season approaching and my life soon to be filled with travel adventures and the like – I’ve enlisted a few friends to help on a little Christmas project of mine. I’ll be spending Christmas abroad in New Zealand this year, but I’ve spent the holiday alone on the other side of the world once before.

I knew I wouldn’t be alone in having had a Christmas in a strange land, so I’ve asked a few people to share their experiences with spending the biggest holiday in Western culture in a different part of the world.

First cab off the rank is Heather from over at There’s No Place Like Oz. An American lass spending her first Christmas abroad, she’s finding adjusting to a Christmas of barbeques and blistering summer days every bit as challenging as I found a Christmas of snow and bitter cold a few years ago.

Got a Christmas story you’d like to share? Let me know and you could be featured here as well!

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“Oh my gosh, how can you stand it?!”

I blink and look at the customer I’m serving, slightly confused.

“I’ve only been in the store for five minutes and this music is driving me insane. How do you deal with it all day?! I bet you’re going mad.”

The customer shakes his head and offers me a look of pity before collecting his groceries and leaving the store as quickly as his feet can carry him.

What he doesn’t know is that I am loving the Christmas playlist that’s been on loop for the past week at work. It’s helping me believe, if only for the next few hours, that though it’s warm and humid, Christmas is indeed just around the corner.

When I packed my bags and boarded a plane bound for Australia in May, I knew I was going to miss birthdays and major holidays with my family and friends back in the USA. I figured I’d miss Thanksgiving and Christmas at home, sure, but that I’d be too busy loving life in Australia for it to affect me too deeply. What I didn’t know or remotely expect was how challenging I would find the time between mid-November to the present.

Earlier today I heard “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” and shook my head with a faint smile. To me, it looks like anything but Christmas.

So I want to share what Christmas does look like for me — or what it usually does. What it’s been looking like so far this year. And what I hope is yet to come for my first Christmas abroad.

The Heather of Christmases Past

Last year’s December in Virginia, USA

Sunday morning

Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year. I love the holidays and am very close to my family. It may be hard for some to imagine, but at 30, this will be the first Christmas I’m not spending with my parents and sisters.

Over the years, the five of us have established a number of traditions:

  • For as long as I can remember, we have always had electric candles in each of the windows of the house. As the sun sets, someone walks around to turn them on.
  • Decorating the Christmas tree has been a family affair. When I was young, we each chose one new ornament for the tree every year. For the last 15 or so years, we always use white lights and glass ornaments.
  • On Christmas Eve we attend the service at our church or a friend’s church. If I’m not in the spirit beforehand, I tend to be when I leave.
  • After the Christmas Eve service, my family used to drive around neighborhoods that were known for light displays for an hour or so before turning home. Sadly we haven’t done that in ages.
  • My maternal grandfather spends the holiday with us. I’ve worn a Santa hat for as long as I can remember on Christmas day, and the first time my grandfather spent it with us, I gave one to him too. We rock the hats.

Spending time together last year

Grandfather

  • On Christmas morning we gather and each open one present and our stocking. We then take time to cook and enjoy breakfast together. We return to the tree and take turns opening presents, one at a time — something we started when I was young after my sisters and me tore through our presents in record time. We open every present except for one each. Christmas music plays in the background.
  • My dad loves it, so we watch “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown” with him.
  • After a nice evening meal, we watch each other open our last present of the day.
  • For the last two years, I have been involved in the Christmas production at church. I can’t sing, but I can memorize lines like a champ. Being a part of the two casts was probably the best thing I ever did with my church. I met more people. I spent time developing relationships with those in shared scenes. I invested in my church family and was blessed for it.

Mary in 2008

Christmas play 2008

  • We usually don’t have a white Christmas, but from time to time it happens.

Little me in the snow

Me and mom

The path I shoveled to our front door last year

Path to the front door

The Heather of Holiday-season Present

Can I be honest — no sugar cookie coating of the truth? The last few weeks have been a mental and emotional struggle. I’ve only voiced these feelings a few times for fear of sounding ungrateful for the experience of living in another country for a year. But I need to be real 
with — and fair to — myself.

I’ve felt very sad and homesick since my parents returned home after a week-long visit in early November. Over the course of two months, I had 4 different visitors spend a total of four weeks with me. My parents’ stay marked the last of them, and I was left with this gap between November 12 and December 25 that has seemed infinitely long and lonely. When I first settled in Sydney after traveling for three and a half months, I was so busy with a new job, new flat, a few new friends, and visitors that I didn’t have time – or real reason – to feel lonely. But now the newness has worn off, the visitors are gone, and most of the friends I do have in the city are either busy or away. Loved ones back home have been posting Facebook statuses of Christmas cheer, and I haven’t been able to stop asking myself what in the world I am doing half a world away.

I need to openly acknowledge that this dip, this struggle, is just another normal (but slightly unwelcome) aspect of pursuing such a big life change. I’m not ungrateful because I would temporarily rather be somewhere else — I’m just missing home and the love and familiarity this time of year brings.

It may sound silly, but I have yet to wrap my head around the seasons in Australia being opposite to the ones at home. When I first arrived, I said it was winter, but secretly, I knew it was really summer. Now it’s December and I’m wearing sunscreen and sweating, but something in my brain refuses to fully grasp this. I suppose when your circadian rhythms have relied on certain times of year corresponding to particular seasons, it’s okay for your mind to be thrown for a loop when your new reality doesn’t match with the one you’ve always had. Just writing this feels ridiculous, but a few fellow travelers and expats have shared that they feel the same.

While I’m feeling homesick and wishing for (much) cooler weather to match my memories of the holidays, the Heather of holiday-season present hasn’t been totally sad.

A little love from home

When my parents asked what I wanted for Christmas, I didn’t have to think twice. They packed an extra bag for their visit and brought some products I was missing from home that I can’t find in Australia. They covered some of the meals we had together during their visit. And as an extra surprise, they brought my Christmas stocking and left it behind with a few goodies, making me promise I won’t touch it until Christmas day (so far, so good, but I almost peeked last night).

Last night also marked the first snow in Virginia. Reading all of the Facebook status updates about the weather was both comforting and maddening. Before I went to bed, my youngest sister emailed me with several photos. On her car she drew a heart and inside wrote “Heather”. In case I didn’t get the message, here’s the one she wrote on my car:

Katie loves me

Signs of the holidays

I suppose I’ve had Christmas on my mind for months now! When I visited a koala hospital in August, I adopted koalas for my family as Christmas gifts. As soon as Christmas decorations appears in stores, I bought a strand of blue lights to put around the perimeter of my bedroom. A few weeks ago, I powered up the Christmas playlist on my iPod when I’m out for walks or a jog — and from time to time laugh while listening to someone sing about a white Christmas while I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

I’ve watched the Chrismukkah episodes of The OC. I bought a small pack of Christmas cards featuring koalas, kangaroos, and Santa — enjoying the beach, firing up the barbie, or playing cricket. And eager me had them addressed and mailed by December 2nd. At work, I secretly delight in the holiday music being piped in; I have weekly chats with a customer who plays one of the many Santas in the city; and I’ve tasted most of our Christmas range of goodies after representatives have come in to provide tastings.

The Heather of Christmas Future

With less than 3 weeks until Christmas and 10 more days of work between now and then (God help me!), I am eager to transition from homesickness to holiday cheer. One of my new friends plans to host a Christmas cookie baking day. A neighboring suburb is hosting an evening of carols on the same day as the holiday party at work. I may just head into the city tomorrow to see the decorations and tree at Martin Place.

As for Christmas day itself, I won’t be alone! Fortunate me has been invited to spend it with four different families, so if something falls through with one, I have somewhere else I can go. And after a sushi lunch with my host family, it will be time to call my own and wish them a merry Christmas and let them know how much they are loved and missed from the other side of the world.

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You can read more of Heather’s experiences in the land down-under over at There’s No Place Like Oz. I’d thoroughly recommend it whether you’re a fellow traveler experiencing the country for the first time or you’re an Aussie native just curious about an outsider’s perspective on life in the great southern land.

Activity Review, Sydney

Sydney from Behind the Lens

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I recently turned the ripe old age of 27 and my girlfriend’s gift to me was a three hour photography course in Sydney’s beautiful Rocks district. I’ve waxed lyrical about this historic region of Sydney’s foreshore in the past, but it really bears repeating. It may be a bit of a tourist trap with its many souvenir shops and boutique cafes, but there’s plenty of hidden gems to be found in the place where the Australian nation as we know it was birthed.

Run by the criminally talented Alfonso Calero, the Sydney Photography Tours experience offers a pretty unique blend of photography course and tour. While you’re being taken to some of The Rocks’ less well known sights, you’re also learning a whole lot more about your camera and what it is capable of.

The tour weighs in at a perfectly affordable $99 and you well and truly get your money’s worth from it. Our tour group, consisting of a motley crew of 8 or so tourists, had people ranging from housewives with point and shoots to geeky photography nuts with expensive DSLR’s. With such a small group, you’re given plenty of hands on instruction from Alfonso if you need it.

The general format of the whole tour is simple enough. After meeting at 8.30am near the Rocks Discovery Museum and making your introductions, you’re quickly issued with your first challenge. We started it the art of finding a line and capturing it. The tour provides you with a double sided cheat sheet in business card form, and each side has ten tips that range from the obvious to the more surprising.

Basically we bounced from site to site tackling different artistic concepts. We snapped photos of line in and around the museum; texture in beautiful Foundation Park; snapped portraits of a pair of elderly gentlemen who sell portraits near the park; the use of the flash to negate harsh light underneath the Harbour Bridge; and tackled shape inside a beautiful Anglican Church not far from the bridge.

You’re given roughly 10-20 minutes at each site to snap as many pictures as you care to and then you each select a favourite or two to share. It might seem intimidating showing off your photography to complete strangers, but the whole affair is very friendly and laid back.

With our group being mostly amateurs, Alfonso focussed on the simpler facts about photography. While the course is ostensibly about travel photography – what you learn can be applied almost anywhere. I learned quite a bit about how to draw the eye with a well selected line; the tricks of getting a good street portrait (and potentially making a new friend); and even a few cheap ways to improvise a tripod if I haven’t got one by my side.

The whole tour ends at the historic Hero of Waterloo pub where you share your two favourite shots, exchange email addresses with those you might have hit it off with; and then have a beverage or two.

With Fallon having made reservations for my birthday lunch though, we couldn’t stick around.

It’s hard to say just how much you could learn on the tour if you were an experienced photography. If you check out Alfonso’s website you can see that the man is quite talented, and I’m sure his tour would approach things from a different angle if you had a more talented group of photographers along.

Sydney Photograph Tours also runs tours in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Melbourne – as well as night courses once a month. Alfonso is the man behind it all, and he also runs editing classes and one on one tutoring sessions if you’re willing to pay a little extra.

There are a lot of obvious things to do while you’re in Sydney, and a lot of sites that get rattled off as must see – but if you’re going to be snapping photos on your tour, why not kill two birds with one stone and make it a tour while brushing up on your photography skills?

 

Attempting to master the art of drawing the eye with a line
An exercise in capturing texture in Foundation Park
Another use of line. Again from Foundation Park
Learning the art of the street portrait with a colourful local
An exercise in shape
Australia, Musings

All I Want for my Birthday…

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… is for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be hosted in Australia.

Is that so much to ask? I’ve gone to A-League games and watched South Korea crush Turkmenistan in sub-zero temperatures in Seoul. I think I deserve this.

Korean fans resort to drastic measures to stay warm during South Korea's 5-0 win over Turkmenistan in Feb 08. Photo by Joy Hodge

Later today the esteemed folk at FIFA will make their decision regarding where the biggest sporting event in the world will be hosted in 2018 and 2022.

With Brazil etched in to host the 2014 edition (and me etched in to be somewhere in South America for the event), the outcome of this all important vote will go a long way toward deciding just where I will be in these two years.

2018 has come down to England, Russia, Spain/Portugal, or Belgium/Holland. I’ve got to say that I wouldn’t be at all put out to spend a month or three in any of these places. If I had to choose one based on my interest in the region, the Iberian bid would win it for me. Spain has such a fascinating culture and intoxicating women, and Portugal is one of those unfortunate European afterthoughts that seems to be missed on most itineraries for one reason or another.

With that said, Belgium does provide me with more readers than any of the above countries. Out of loyalty I should perhaps spare them a thought.

But 2022 – now that’s the one I’m most interested in. The bidding nations are the United States, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, and Australia. Of these three have hosted a World Cup in the past – with the United States holding the very successful 1994 tournament and Korea & Japan sharing the tournament in 2002. These last two are considered the least likely to get the cup, as just twenty years will have past by the time their turn rolls around. And while Japan has made an effort to personalize their bid by emphasizing their country’s technological advances by offering holographic coverage and the like – South Korea seemed content to simply roll out the same venues and rely on the fact they’ve got a member of the voting committee as the head of their football association.

A trio of Brazilian Australians enjoying the 2010 FIFA Fanfest at Darling Harbour. Photo by Fallon Fehringer

It will end up boiling down to Qatar, the United States, or Australia. Each of the bids offers FIFA some crucial territory to expand into. The US is still a sleeping giant in footballing terms but has been going from strength to strength on the back of an always improving MLS competition – whilst Qatar affords the diplomats and politicians at FIFA an opportunity to host a World Cup in the Middle East. The Qatar bid is certainly an interesting one – with all manner of artistically stunning stadiums and an underground venue on the cards. The issue with Qatar’s bid is the small size of the nation and the fact games would need to be played in near crippling summer heat, and no amount of air conditioned stadiums and state of the art cooling methods are going to change that. Then there’s that small ‘no alcohol’ thing that comes with being an Islamic state…

What does the Australian bid have? I’ll try and remove my biased glasses and look at it as objectively as I can, but bear in mind that this is a man who wept openly when John Aloisi slotted home that winning penalty against Uruguay in late 2005 to put us into our first World Cup since the 70s. I’m up at the crack of dawn for every Socceroos’ game regardless of what side of the world I’m on, and I can’t see that ever changing.

Oceania, the minnow confederation to which Australia once belonged, has never hosted the tournament. It remains the only confederation under the FIFA umbrella to have never hosted a tournament, and with New Zealand the only sizable nation remaining in the region after Australia made the move into Asia – it seems unlikely that the tournament will ever grace the region if Australia aren’t the ones to do it. A Cup in Australia has the benefits of bringing the game to its last untouched frontier whilst still placing it close to the ever growing Asian market. FIFA may worry that a World Cup on this side of the world will detract from the lucrative North American and European TV markets – but the majority of the world’s population just happens to live on Australia’s door step, and who knows what kind of TV rights they’ll be offering by the time the Cup rolls around.

Fans out in force to watch Sydney FC vs. Newcastle Jets in the A-League. Photo by freakingawesomemonty

It’s more than just dollars and cents though. Australia remains one of the world’s most beloved travel destinations. With just about every climate and terrain type represented, fans would not only get to see world class football being played in state of the art facilities – they’d be doing it while finding time to scuba dive the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, spot crocodiles in Kakadu National Park, surf the beaches of Manly, drive the Great Ocean Road, and swim with dolphins on the west coast.  It wouldn’t just be meat pies and kangaroo kebabs at the games – it would be Australia’s vast multicultural population showing the world that there is more to Australian cuisine than beer and Vegemite.

Estimates place the value of winning the right to host a World Cup in the billions, and ideally it wouldn’t just be Australia’s travel hot spots that would benefit from this influx of cash and tourists. Australia’s east coast might be seen as the be all and end all by a lot of travelers, but there’s a whole wealth of sights and sounds to be experienced elsewhere. There’s skiing to be done in the Snowy Mountains and beautiful caves to be explored in the Blue Mountains. There’s ancient rainforests in the far north, and the hidden river canyons of Western Australia. There’s wine to be sampled in South Australia and the Hunter, and wild cattle country in spades in central and western Queensland.

Cities such as Newcastle, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Adelaide, and even smaller centres such as Armidale, Wollongong, and Geelong could use the tournament to put themselves well and truly onto the travel map. Come 2023 these cities could be basking in a renaissance in the afterglow of the World Cup. Backpackers out for sun and surf might spend a few weeks partying in a glitzier Newcastle while the adventurous might fancy an authentic outback experience launched from steamy Darwin. Armidale’s Celtic heritage and Tamworth’s laid back country charm might draw travelers to come a bit farther inland, while Geelong might give people in Victoria something to visit outside of Melbourne.

Showing my colours for Australia Day in 2008. Photo by Brodie Rember.

I’ve got a great deal of pride in my country, not just as a sports fan and an Aussie, but as a traveler. I’m new to this travel thing and I’ve got a lot of places to go on my ever growing list – but when it’s all said and done and I’m ready to settle down, you’d best believe I’m going to take my time and experience as much of this beautiful, varied country as I can. Nothing would make me happier than FIFA giving the rest of the world license to discover just how amazing Australia really is.

So come on guys, forsake a bit of US dinero and do the right thing. Bring the World Cup to Australia and let us show the world just what a vibrant and fascinating place Australia really is.

Do you really want to make a grown man cry on his birthday?

Australia, Countdowns

Top 10 Aussie Must Eats

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Inspired by some of Brooke’s posts over at WhyGo Australia about delicious (and not so delicious) Australian foods, I’ve decided to resurrect the Top 10 concept with the ten foods I consider ‘must eat’ on a visit to Australia.

I was a culinary expert from a very early age

 

Many people perhaps aren’t aware of just how multicultural Australia really is. The image of bronzed beach bums, zinc coated cricketers, and hard as nails outback crocodile hunters perhaps overshadows the fact that Australia has a massive European and Asian population. You’re just as likely to find fantastically fragrant Thai, authentic Korean BBQ, or a deliciously greasy Turkish kebab on a street corner as you are to find Aussie staples such as the meat pie, the Vegemite sandwich, and the sacred Pavlova.

Who am I kidding? You’re more likely to find these so-called foreign foods here than you are the more traditional British style foods that are more commonly associated with Australian cuisine. The country is a melting pot of cultures and tastes, and the best ten are listed below.

Honorable Mentions

Vegemite

It’s salty, yeasty, and not altogether nice – but after years of having it tucked into our lunch boxes and smeared onto our morning toasts – most Aussies have developed an affection for this entirely unappealing looking black spread. New Zealanders and Brits have their own version, but I’ll take a salty smear on my morning toast any day of the week.

Violet Crumble

Similar but superior to the Crunchie made by Cadbury, the Violet Crumble is a cube of honeycomb coated in milk chocolate and served in a healthy sized bar. Available around the world although never quite as easy to find as you might like, the Violet Crumble is probably Australia’s most well recognized chocolate bar.

Macadamia Nuts

Pretty much the only native crop of any import to come out of Australia, the Macadamia nut is all kinds of amazing. Whether you’re eating it raw or salted; candied or chocolate coated; or as a garnish on a meal – Macadamia nuts as a versatile and decadent addition to any diet. With the highest amount of beneficial mono-unsaturated fats found in any kind of nut, the Macadamia is also something of a super food.

Without Further Ado…

#10 – The Kebab

An Aussie drinking staple

It might be more commonly associated with Middle Eastern cuisine, but the kebab (actually a doner kebab) is a staple in the Australian drinking diet. Perhaps even more so than a heart attack inducing meat pie, the kebab has come to symbolize a perfect end to a boozy night out.

Served up in pita bread with an ample serving of hummus, tabbouleh, and the arbitrary garlic sauce – there’s nothing more Australian than finishing a night out ‘on the piss’ with a greasy ethnic delicacy that you’ll regret in the morning.

#9 – Kangaroo

Kangaroo meat can even be fancy

Leave it to us no frills Aussies to make a meal out of an animal that appears on our coat of arms, but you’ll understand why kangaroo is becoming increasingly popular at the Aussie dinner table after you have your first bite. Gamier and lighter than the average beef steak, Kangaroo goes just as well in a salad as it does on a burger. And in Australia, it’s not a burger without a big slice of beetroot on it to ensure maximum mess while you eat.

But how can we eat something as adorable as Skippy? The fact is that in a country where European settlement has been to the detriment of virtually all native fauna – the Eastern Grey Kangaroo has managed to not only survive but thrive. Sharing dietary requirements with herd animals has lifted Australia’s kangaroo population to pest levels, and it’s basically your civic duty to sit down and have a kangaroo steak and fries whenever the opportunity presents itself.

#8 – Milo

Delicious hot Milo. Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

It might fall under the Nestle umbrella and be available all over the world, but this delicious chocolate malt drink was invented right here in Australia back in the 1930s. While people the world around are familiar with the hot chocolate complete with marshmallows – in Australia kids in the winter warm up over a hot Milo with a few teaspoons of sugar added for good measure. But Milo is a flexible drink.

In the summer you can drop a couple of tablespoons of the chocolate powder into a glass of ice cold milk and you’re off to the races. Whether you mix it right in to form chocolate milk or you shovel great spoonfuls of it into your mouth, you’re in flavor country. A tad less sweet than conventional chocolate milks – Milo is also a favorite with sports people as an energy boost.

#7 – Chiko Roll

Delicious and not at all nutritious

Another example of Australian ingenuity, the Chiko Roll is somewhere between a spring roll and heaven. A motley collection of vegetables, beef, and spices wrapped in a deep fried dough cashing – the Chiko Roll was a staple at Aussie Rules and rugby league matches in the 60s and 70s because its thick outer shell meant it was a bit more durable than the notoriously fickle meat pie.

Available at pretty much every fish and chip shop and football ground in the country, the Chiko Roll is an Australian icon on the wane in these days of higher awareness of what it is that goes into our bodies. But if you’re rocking a mean hangover or just fancying a change from meat and gravy at the footy, the Chiko Roll just might be your go.

#6 – Lamingtons

The lamington tastes better than it looks. Photo from Wikipedia Commons

It’s simple really. Take one cube of sponge cake, coat in chocolate icing, and cover liberally with desiccated coconut. Voila! Right there you have an Aussie afternoon tea and recess staple. While there are fancier takes on the traditional recipe such as different flavoured icing and even jam and cream between slices of sponge cake, the original is still one of the best.

Favoured amongst non profit organizations as a fund-raising tool, the easy to make and ever popular lamington is also readily available in most Australian supermarkets.

#5 – Tim Tams

My first Korean care package came complete with Tim Tams

Americans are just now starting to fall in love with the utterly sinful Tim Tam thanks to the smarts of Pepperidge Farm. But Aussies have been savouring this chocolatey delicacy since the 1960s. Available in a range of flavours such as white chocolate, dark chocolate, and even a slightly alcoholic Tia Maria – the original is still what I consider to be the best.

The ideal way to eat a Tim Tam? The Tim Tam Slam of course! Bite off both ends of the biscuit, dip one end into a hot chocolate or cup of tea, and suck the liquid up through it. It’s messy business, but it’s so very good.

My first trip over to South Korea was highlighted by a Tim Tam Slam. I got just a little teary eyed as I licked the delicious milk chocolate off of my fingers and realized it would probably be a year before I saw them again – but thankfully my mother made sure I was regularly supplied with the Aussie afternoon tea staple throughout the year.

#4 – Pavlova

Pavlova at the Post Office Cafe, Katoomba. Photo by Fallon Fehringer

Those filthy New Zealanders might try to claim it as their own, but the Pavlova is as Australian as Phar Lap and Russell Crowe. It’s hard to describe the Pavlova and do it justice.

Picture a ‘cake’ made of meringue. The outside is a hard shell and the inside is soft and fluffy. The cake is then decorated with cream and covered with various tropical fruits. It all adds up to being arguably the greatest dessert in the world, and there’s not a tad of Aussie bias there.

The most commonly used fruits in preparation are strawberries, Kiwi fruit, passion-fruit, and banana – but virtually any fruit goes well on a ‘pav’. Some of the other foods on this list might feel a bit outlandish, but if you’re not salivating at the thought of this sweet treat – you’re a dead-set galah.

#3 – Fish & Chips

An Aussie staple – fish and chips. Photo from Wikipedia Commons

The British might be best known for serving up chips with a bit of battered fish in grease soaked newspaper, but like cricket and rugby, it’s a British invention that we Aussies do a lot better.

While those crazy Poms serve it up with vinegar and warm beer, you’ll find it served in Australia with chicken salt and some tomato sauce. That’s ketchup to you Americans.

There’s something to be said for eating fish and chips at a beach side cafe while drinking an ice cold beer, and it’s one of the most Australian experiences you’ll have.

#2 – ANZAC Biscuits

Chewy, gooey goodness! Photo from Wikipedia Commons

Despite the rivalry and the jibes hurled across the Tasman, Australia and New Zealand have a wonderful history of co-operation that stretches back well before the exploits of the ANZACS (Australia And New Zealand Army Corps) during the World Wars. The ANZAC Biscuit, which derives its name from the fact its ingredients kept well and could be shipped to diggers abroad, is still a popular treat in Australia – particularly around the holiday that shares its name.

Made from rolled oats, desiccated coconut, golden syrup, and brown sugar – the ANZAC biscuit is a sweet and chewy treat that’s not nearly as unhealthy as more popular biscuits. They’re also one of the few things I can cook well, so they’re a personal favourite of mine whenever I’m called upon to do any baking.

#1 – The Meat Pie

A meat pie just isn’t complete without a dollop of source. Photo from Wikipedia Commons

There are many varieties all around the world, but few nations have made the meat pie as key a part of traditional cuisine Australia and New Zealand. Once described by Bob Carr as Australia’s national dish, these hand sized pies are packed full of beef and gravy – but come in a variety of flavours ranging from chicken curry to steak & cheese to pizza.

So popular is the humble pie that Australians eat an average of twelve of these fatty treats a year, whilst the Kiwis put us to shame with a whopping fifteen. Good after a night on the turps or while watching the footy, the meat pie (and its partner dish, the sausage roll) are as dinky die as you can get. They’re not healthy at all – but not eating one while in Australia is akin to not feeding a kangaroo or getting a sunburn. It’s just not cricket.

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There you have it guys, the most Australian lingo and ocker dribble you’ll ever see on this site. I got a chuckle out of writing it and I hope you got a laugh out of reading it. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m off to grab a meat pie and share a moment with it before I bid farewell to them when I head back to Korea in the new year.

Life on the Road

Guest Blog: Who Will You Meet?

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I first met Amanda upon my return to South Korea at the very end of 2008. Mike & Dave’s Speakeasy was having a black and white themed New Year’s party and I’d breezed back into town just in time to attend the event. My memories of that drunken night are largely filled with people giving me hugs and kisses to welcome me back and playing 5am Bowling Buddies in a smoky PC room with Rey and Zak because it was warmer than standing outside in the snow waiting for a cab.

I say ‘met’ Amanda like we interacted beyond being introduced and me laughing as her and our Thai friend Pong did a little dirty dancing. I might never have spent a great deal of time hanging out with Amanda – but she’s played a huge part in my life. Y’see, it was her ‘Pre Game Ho Down’ themed party where I met Fallon and this whole two year adventure began.

These days Amanda and her boyfriend Dan are traveling around South America on a shoestring and documenting their experiences in their blog ‘On the Road on a Shoestring‘. They sent me this gem from a unreliable Bolivian internet and I’ve had to populate it with pictures of my own because apparently the computer they found wouldn’t survive the upload process.

Enough from me. Here’s Aussie on the Road’s first ever guest blog from the fingertips of Amanda and Dan over at On the Road on a Shoestring.

Who Will You Meet?

We are a couple currently traveling through South America for three months. You can’t stereotype everyone you meet, but here are some of the most common kind of friends we’ve met in our travels around the world.

 

Oh, The People You’ll Meet

The two single drunk dudes: Typically hailing from Australia, The UK, Ireland or Germany, these fellows are out to get wasted, get laid, and earn bragging rights back home in the pub. Shorter term travelers who can be slightly single minded and may revile you for suggesting cultural or non-drinking related activities.

Two single, drunk Aussie guys in a Gwangju bar

The independent woman: Older or younger, the independent woman traveler makes short term friends easily, but would never travel together for long. She does what she wants when she wants and rarely drinks to excess. In a situation where a man may look lonely, she looks content and at ease.

My good friend Rebecca (who may appear on this site soon) epitomizes a woman comfortable traveling by herself

The couple in retirement: They have seen many places and have experienced what many young people can only hope to in their lives. They often have the best travel stories and don’t mind recounting them over a bottle a wine. They turn in early and see no reason to rush. Enjoying the day is their primary goal and they often make one hostel their home for extended periods.

Not quite retired, but my folks definitely took their time in a six week tour of Korea. Taken at Ulleungdo

The adventurous couple: This couple in their 30’s has the money and stamina to climb mountains and reach remote islands. You’ll easily meet them camping in Tierra del Fuego, but they’ll only be in Buenos Aires for a day to collect themselves for the next adventure. They love swimming, biking, running, and everything physical.

Hugh and Kathryn. Just about the coolest couple we met during our time in South Korea.

The hardcore druggie: Do you want to know where to get coke in La Paz? He’ll tell you before you even ask. He’s often supplying the whole hostel with the street drug of their choice and he parties all night long. A good friend when looking for a good time, otherwise steer clear!

Yeah, I don't have any pictures of a druggie. This one's by Bridget Christian

 

The resident: A volunteer or low paid worker who doesn’t have a lot of money but prefers the simple life abroad. Great person to ask where to get you laundry done or the best lunch deal in town, they are often very knowledgeable about the area. They are quite used to travelers coming and going and do not get attached easily.

 


Co-founder of the Speakeasy and the man behind Gwangju's Underground Grocer and The First Alleyway restaurant - Michael Simning. As local as the Kia Tigers

The hippie: Loose clothes, dreadlocks, and flexible attitude toward running water, the hippies are into art, music, and relaxation. They are often found in small beach towns where the lifestyle is slow and life comes easy.

I don't have any photos of hippies either, so here is one of Fallon and I dressed for an 80s theme party

Travels for a living: Commonly a highly educated professional, they have a successful travel blog or online business that allows them perpetual motion. They arrive with purpose and have goals to achieve. They are usually good with languages and cultural sensitivity. They are unfazed by even the wildest political unrest and are the envy of the travel community for making money while doing what we all love to do.

Neither of them does it for a living just yet, but Tony (from It's Good Overseas) and Brooke (from Brooke vs. the World) both make it a huge part of their lives

The youngins: Seventeen to nineteen (and not from the United States) god knows how they got out here. Eyes as big as does, they are fascinated by everything. They have the strongest immune systems, yet they are the most concerned about travel sickness. Well stocked with reserves of medicine and money supplied by their parents, but lacking world wisdom of experience, they are hard to tolerate in large doses. Always up for a good time and down for anything. Can’t fight against the youth!

I've crossed paths with this variety many times, but never once snapped a picture. This one is courtesy of el clinto


There you have it!

Aussie on the Road’s first guest post all done and dusted. I want to thank Amanda and Dan for taking the time out of their busy backpacking schedule to write this for me, and I’m going to plug their blog once again. They’ve got some great stories and photos from their trip all over South America. Go look!

If you’re a reader and you’re interested in contributing a guest post, let me know. I’m always looking for interesting content for the site!