Bits of November: The Thing About Coming Home
To summarise: I left my job. I looked for a new job! I found a Christmas locum. It was in Australia. I am in Australia now. It’s been one of those weeks.
There have been illnesses and injuries, laughter and tears, and sarcasm, obviously. More sleep than usual, but not at the right times, and very little blog reading at all. (Sorry about that.) The kids have been filled full of ice-cream by Nanny and have enjoyed the great Queensland tradition of electrical blackouts with Grandma and Granddad.
Here’s the thing about coming home, though. It’s very familiar, and at the same time, kind of foreign. I ordered the only thing I ever order at McDonalds and it turns out they don’t make it here. In a world where “McDonalds” is synonymous with strict uniformity, I found myself clogging up their drive-thru as I frantically learned the menu as if for the first time. “What about green tea?” I was asking, and the voice inside the speaker box was answering Patiently with a capital P as if I’m one of those alien sitcom characters with the right form and accent who just can’t seem to fit in.
Later, I’ll use some sort of communications technology to present my report.
In the meantime, I guess that covers Me, Elsewhere, so let’s skip straight over to…
You, And/Or Other Awesome Things
- Have you read about the controversial Pepper Pig episode which was banned on Australian TV?
- Stupid Ugly Foreigner is leaving us! (Us the bloggers, not Us the aliens.)
- Speaking of Antarctica, they have undercover robotic penguins there. (Hat tip to A for sending the article.)
- Business idea: you’ve heard of fish spas? I see starfish waxing salons.
- Converting my opening summary into a series of haiku is left as an exercise for naptimethoughts. Not to dissuade other alert readers.
Now catch me up on what I missed. Alternatively: don’t. Unless you live in Brisbane I’m even further away than usual and therefore much less likely to hunt you down and sit on you until you converse with me, which is already not very likely, so what you do from here is more or less all up to you. I’d like it, though*.
—
*If you chose to catch me up, I mean. Sitting on people til they converse with me can be trying.
I had a killer case of reverse culture shock the first time I returned to the US. It was dramatic enough that a newspaper asked me to write about it. 😛
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I don’t think my McDonald’s story stacks up to that. What happened? Do you have the article somewhere?
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I spoke to a cabby in the wrong language, got stranded in a Gustav Klimt omage made from human feces and found solace in a the company of a woman with neon green eye shadow.
http://www.newsreview.com/reno/stranger-in-a-strange-land/content?oid=1361861
😛
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Great article 🙂 Kept getting interrupted but finally made it through! Sounds like they have fascinating… coffee and barber shops… there, but mostly I love the last paragraph about freedom.
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Who needs the children?
Bronwyn went to Australia
Nanny spoiled the kids.
How’s that?
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Love it 🙂 Oh, now it should be my turn…
Grandma’s at breakfast
Children are watching TV
Rules are diff’rent here.
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LOL I am probably the only other person who’d ask for green at McD’s.
“More sleep than usual, but not at the right times” LOL. Wow, so you staying in Austr now? That was a lot of packing and unpacking. I know, it’s always weird to “go home”.
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Just for Christmas. The usual amount of packing and unpacking 🙂
It is weird to go home, though.
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Oh! And green tea is a great favourite in McDonalds in Singapore, although they’re talking about the iced version (lots of sugar – classic maccas). The added bonus is it’s technically “tea” so the kids don’t get it all before I do 🙂
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Ha ha oh, all right. Right…had to have all that sugar.
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The starfish spa is pretty wild. We came across a lot of fish pedicures while in the Yucatan of Mexico, basically fish that liked to nibble at your toes without leaving any lasting damage. With a few more spa-adapted species, we’re likely to see someone open up an full-blown spa of the sea where the sea creatures do all of the work 🙂 I wonder how an octopus exfoliation would be…
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I’m looking forward to a pilot fish dental treatment as well. Mm mmmm. We should do this – you and I.
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Would definitely love to 🙂 I think I could make the pilot fish dental treatment work as long as I don’t actually “eat” them; it doesn’t count if I do a “clean an release”, right? You should know up front, though, that I draw the line at urchin acupuncture.
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Haha! (Not sure that I wouldn’t prefer the urchin acupuncture!)
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I love that you get the chance to have a Christmas with your parents again this year! I sometimes miss that during this season. 🙂 but only during this season lol
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LOL I’m sure your family are very nice and everything 🙂 Too many good points to living overseas though I guess!
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There are some. Admittedly my family is pretty awesome, but something about the holidays brings out the crazy in all of us. Haha
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That’s definitely true. Oh my goodness, the stories we both could tell if this wasn’t a public and indelible forum…
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Love the Christmas locus – we are actually signing up for one in our hometown so not sure that counts. Enjoy your time in Qld and glad I am not the only one doing Macdonald’s drive-through.
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I feel a bit dirty admitting it but I’m guessing others are just as guilty. At least I can assure you I don’t know the whole menu. 🙂
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“Here’s the thing about coming home, though. It’s very familiar, and at the same time, kind of foreign.” Yep, know what you mean. We were in Asia for 30 years so we came back to a foreign country. lol. We live on the glorious Sunshine Coast. Not as many gangland horrors as the Gold Coast so its safe to walk around here. Too bad you had to come back to Bris at a time when mother nature threw a fit or two. I hope it didn’t spoil your homecoming. The weather gods are kinder to us here. Happy sitting on people down there!
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After thirty years you’d notice a few things other than the absence of McSpicy burgers with green tea I’m guessing.
We missed the hail! We’d actually just arrived but weren’t anywhere it came down. There was enough wind and dark clouds to make us think something huge was on the way then it sort of never came. But the electricity went. Still, that could have been just the wind. Took a while for the news to seep through under the circumstances!
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I think I’d have the same problem in Ireland with McDonalds. I doubt somehow they sell “teriyaki burgers”.
I like how you casually drop the BIG news of your move home. Congratulations on the move and well done to you for your years in Singapore. I look forward to reading more of reverse culture shock and all your new adventures
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News isn’t that big – I’m only here for a little over a month. Back to Singapore for 2015. Not sure what I’ll be doing yet, but I’ve got a few thoughts…
Teriyaki burgers 🙂 Sounds nice, if not very Irish.
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Well, what do you know. I’m headed to Singapore and you’ve just left there! Sounds like a wonderful opportunity for you. I think this is my last business trip to Singapore, so I hope Orchard Road is really decked out for me. 🙂
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Oh no! How long are you there for? It’s a short trip I suppose?
Orchard Rd was looking alright a week or so ago (they must have known you were coming).
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Thanks for the link on the starfish. 🙂 I get being busy. Where in the heck did November go? I really do have to get back to Australia. I ate McD fries on the road yesterday driving from Las Vegas to Oregon. –Curt
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That does sound very American Road Trip. The Oz version is more sausage roll.
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Congratulations on your new job. Hope you are having a lovely homecoming. xxoo
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Thanks. Yes, a lovely homecoming 🙂
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I’ve wondered where you’ve been! Hope you are squeezing some joy out of your trip. I, for one, am glad to see November go – this will catch you up: http://wp.me/p1kx3S-SY
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Yes, pretty good trip so far. That’s quite a catch-up you’ve got on your blog…
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Nice to hear from you, I’ve missed you!
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Sounds like quite a November! Still home for Christmas can’t be a bad thing? Loving those immigration forms too – I am too much of a chicken for that one – scarey border officials and all that.
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Yes, home for Christmas is good.
You have to tread carefully with those officials. It sort of begs the question, too – what happens to those forms after you hand them in? Do they actually get entered into some sort of system by someone or are they just filed for X amount of time and then dumped?
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Probably cut out the middle man and just filed in the dump!
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Ha!
Hm. Looks like they keep electronic records including flight/ship details, but doesn’t say anything about occupation details:
https://www.immi.gov.au/managing-australias-borders/border-security/systems/movement-records.htm
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The best of luck to you Bronwyn! Enjoy the holidays with the family! (The kids’ occupations? I’m so using those!)
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The last ones were more successful (in terms of getting laughs/smiles). Maybe it depends more on who you get, though – I don’t remember putting anything particularly funny. I think it was “Space Nerd” and “Princess” or something?
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What did you try to get at McDonald’s? McSpicy, McWings and jasmine green tea? Good luck with your new job!
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Ha! Got it! (Except for the wings. Never did get into chicken wings.) I swear they used to do McSpicy here, though…
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Haha, I got it (almost) right! I feel like having McSpicy and jasmine tea now… Hmm….
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Oops, sorry …
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I had to go to the supermarket this morning and when I went past McDonald’s on the way there… I just had to go in and get my McSpicy and jasmine green tea! Couldn’t resist 😛
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Hope it was worth it and I didn’t set you up for a day of regret 🙂
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Totally worth it! I don’t go to McDonald’s that often, I almost forgot how good McSpicy was 😉
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If you have time, would love to grab a coffee sometime.
You missed the G20, but that wasn’t such a bad thing to miss.
On 1 December 2014 at 02:22, Journeys of the Fabulist wrote:
> Bronwyn Joy @ Journeys Of The Fabulist posted: “To summarise: I left > my job. I looked for a new job! I found a Christmas locum. It was in > Australia. I am in Australia now. It’s been one of those weeks. There have > been illnesses and injuries, laughter and tears, and sarcasm, obviously. > More sleep”
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That would be great. I also missed your stay in hospital! Wait, I’ll message you privately…
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Wow welcome back! I am also wondering whether it is permanent?
That’s so funny about the Peppa Pig episode.
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Just for Christmas – back for the new school year at the start of January.
The Pepper Pig thing is funny. Next they’ll be telling the kids drop bears are cuddly!
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I’ll get right on it.
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Look forward to it. 😀
Still love that haiku post. Your poor dog…
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I love your immigration forms! I never dare to show a sense of humour in a customs line, especially not in the U.S. I suspect you ditched those ones and started again….
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I only do it coming through Australian immigration. I don’t trust the immigration officials of a country where they’re not virtually obliged to let me in. In the past, I’ve had a few chuckles but this time it was poker faces all the way, so will have to think of something better next time. Suggestions are welcome…
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Wow, where are you guys spending the Holidays? Good luck! Sounds exciting!
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In Brisbane! It’s a kind of bonus year for Christmas in Brisbane (two years in a row!). Of course, it means I’m behind on organising things…
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Wow Bronwyn that is a BIG change! How are you holding up? Have you left Singapore for good? If you don’t have the time or energy to answer no worries. I am sending hugs and energy your way.
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Just for Christmas. Got to return to Singapore in time for the new school year and then sort out what to do next.
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Sending you positive energy and some big hugs.
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Practical advice/experiences also welcomed. 🙂 (Though I’m not sure where you’d start with that from your position over there.)
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PS The Peppa pig thing made me laugh out loud (Not good when putting kids to bed).
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I thought that was a good one, too! I can see their point but I never thought of it as a controversial show.
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Not fair not to mention what you tried to order at MacDonald’s! 🙂
Sounds like a lot of changes there but none here (work, a bit of play, sleep, work… looking forward to a break over Christmas time, looking at flights and dreaming). Are you in Australia for a longer period or…? Wish you luck on the job front, hope it works out!
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Thanks, hope it works out, too.
Your days seem on a pretty good keel so no changes is probably good news for you! We’re just in Australia over Christmas. Will be back for the new school year at the beginning of January.
Citramanica got my order in one 🙂 – McSpicy chicken with green tea 🙂
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Lots of change… something I’m all too familiar with these days. Wishing you fun and exciting times ahead.
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Thanks! I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing next year now…
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Just breathe and try to embrace the excitement of the uncertainty.
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Ordinarily I don’t mind it. But ordinarily I guess I have a few solid backup plans, so…
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Is this a short term job, or will you be leaving Singapore? What did you want to order at McDonalds?
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Just a short term job – I’ll be back in time for start of school. Nicely timed for Christmas, though.
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Oh, and citramanica guessed my order – McSpicy chicken and a jasmine green tea 🙂
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