An Orphan's Christmas

The roles down here have finally changed. Nathan is now the sole provider of this relationship and I am the beggar. My term at Amnesty International has come to its end. I suppose getting 5 weeks of work was quite the extension from the 3 days I was originally needed for. That has come and gone now but I made a few new friends along the way. Not sure if I’ll find much till after Christmas as a lot of businesses close down for a couple weeks over the holidays.

Nathan, however, starts bright and early Monday morning. He’s starting at Datacom where he’ll be doing Tier II Tech Support. Basically the same type of work he did at Shaw Cable… but somewhat more advanced. He was Tier I at home and if he came across something he couldn’t figure out then he’d pass it on to the Tier II crew. So I think he’s a bit nervous and maybe feeling a bit out of his league but I’m sure he’ll do just fine. It’s a job and the pay is great so we’re both happy with that.

Before coming here I must admit that I thought the Christmas holidays would be very lonesome for us. I mean I don’t remember that last time I wasn’t at Grandma Welch’s for Xmas Eve. How were we going to deal with this?? *L* Luckily it’s so different here it’s like we’re going to completely miss the holiday all together. The whole ‘no snow’ thing is throwing us off a lot. It’s very strange to see Xmas trees at the shopping centers and to here the carols over the speakers as we’re shopping. Even today we went to Chatswood Mall and there was a pack of ‘carolers’ donning their Santa hats and singing all the Xmas carols you could think of. Well – as I’m watching them in my skirt and singlet, sweating from the heat, I just can’t seem to get into the Christmas spirit. So perhaps it won’t be so bad or lonesome for us after all. I mean – it just doesn’t seem like Christmas!!

We are however going to attempt to make somewhat of a Christmas meal. It will only be the 2 of us as Steve, Toni and Charlie leave for New Zealand on Tuesday. They are gone for 3 weeks to spend time with family. I think our holidays might be with other travelers as there are a lot of festivities going down at Bondi Beach. I believe one is called the “Orphan’s Christmas Party” or something. It should be fun and somewhat of an experience as this will be the “oddest” way either of us have ever spent Christmas. So as you’re all waking up to find presents from Santa under the tree, Nathan and I will be relaxing on the beach working on our tans. *L* Quite different.

So from both of us down here we hope your holidays are great!! We’ll talk to you all again around the 25^th!!

Erynn & Nathan

p/s I did a tour of where we’re living so make sure to check it out in the video section!!

Aussie facts of the day:

- The so called 'dingo fence' in Australia is the longest fence in the world, and is about twice as long as the Great Wall of China. It has a gate every 19kms along it's length.

- Australia has more beaches than any other country. About 7000 of them.