Down Under in Austreye-ya, I continue to feel like I've joined a big, jolly club. Other than just being here, I don't think I've done anything to deserve membership, but I'm evermore glad I've been accepted, at least temporarily. I can't say enough about the congeniality and kindness I've encountered out here.
If the Aussies could bottle their temperament and send it to the world's warring hot spots, armies would disband. Terrorists would stop blowing themselves up. There would be a massive outbreak of peace.
OK, maybe the Aussies haven't perfected cheeseburgers and fried chicken and country-style steak with rice and gravy yet, but they have won my heart in many, many other ways. They've welcomed me with open arms, have innate generosity of spirit and display a quick, wicked sense of humor.
So while there haven't been daily outings to gardens and stately homes as I have sought out on past trips, I have revelled in my interactions with new friends. Well, I should admit there are no stately homes to see, and given the fact it's winter, the gardens are hibernating. There are compensations, not the least of which is the proximity of the ocean and beautiful, clean parks running alongside it. Still, it's the people who win my attention this go-around.
Today, for example, my new friend Carol gave me a Reiki session, which involved sharing her healing energies to target my dodgy back and the poor circulation in my feet and legs. Tonight I feel the best I've felt in weeks!
And last Saturday night I joined the Friendship Force chapter again for another Trivia Night. They all embraced me a long-lost member -- even though I had attended only one previous meeting -- and gave me the same grief they gave to one of their own. In case you're ever asked about the planets, follow my advice and answer "Pluto." Pluto became the theme of the night with my team. It was not the right answer, but it was MY answer, and nobody let me forget it. My one triumph of the game was the name of the American President who banned broccoli from the White House (George H.W. Bush). Then we played a silly dice game called Beetle Drive, which involved -- well, simply suffice it to say that it leaves you limp with laughter by the end. Good, wholesome fun with good, wholesome folks. I loved being accepted as one of them.
And hands-down, the best Small World story EVER has come out of this trip. The other night, some neighbors of Eileen, my house exchange partner, invited me to their home for dinner. They're in Eileen's book club and thought I'd like to meet someone from the club before next week's book discussion. What a lovely gesture, I thought. Jim and Christine are both retired educators, well-travelled and avid bird-watchers.
So as we're chit-chatting before dinner I discover that like myself, they love England. Oh, where in England have you been? I ask politely. Well, the last trip we took over there was last year, to East Anglia, they said. It's a great place to see massive quantities of birds from Scandinavia who migrate there for the winter. We did a house-swap in Norfolk.
Oh? I say innocently. Last year I did a house-swap in Norfolk.
Ours was near Diss, but it was really out in the country, they said.
Mine was near Diss, but it was really out in the country, I replied.
They started looking sideways at me. I looked sideways right back.
Them: We house-swapped with a couple named [withheld for privacy purposes].
Me: I house-swapped with a couple named [withheld for privacy purposes].
Epic lights bulbs go on.
Them: Did you ever figure out how to use the microwave? We didn't...Me: I did eventually, but only after I called [owner's name] and had him walk me step-by-step how to use the contraption. Until them I was surviving on cold cereal. Them: And they had this Medieval-style drying rack in the laundry room...Me: ...that you had to raise to the ceiling on pulleys!...All:...but everything else in the house was out of the Starship Enterprise!
Them: And they had lights that cut on automatically every time you went into the toilet. But a heating system that never manufactured any heat. We could see to pee but froze the entire time! Me: And an entire room just for controlling all the electronics, which required an engineering degree to operate. Aaaack!
By this time, of course, all three of us were cracking up to have discovered that WE HAD STAYED IN THE SAME HOUSE!!
What are the odds that I would have stumbled across a couple half-way around the world on a different continent in a different hemisphere who had house-exchanged with the same people?! Is that cool, or what?!!!!
I've suggested we invest in a lottery ticket together.
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