The Oz Sys

It’s comforting to know that people around here still have not lost their wit and sense of humor even in the face of serious backlashes from Mother Nature.

Consider this…

Probably why we feel right at home here – the Aussie spirit of going with the flow and taking things in stride is very much akin to the Pinoys’ resilience in the face of adversity.  One realization: Aussies and Pinoys may look starkingly different but deep inside they are pretty much the same.

January’s been very “interesting”, to say the least… Here’s to only better and brighter things for February!

It was the weekend after the “great flood” which “inundated” most of the suburbs in the city which we now call home.  And yet, amidst the somber mood, there always is a ray of warmth and sunshine that manages to pierce through even the darkest clouds.

Case in point?

SCENE: A day in the park with the kids and kids-at-heart. We were supposed to watch an outdoor concert with a fireworks show afterwards – which, we later realized, was cancelled for obvious reasons.   Not wanting to waste our first day of sunshine after a long while, we still pushed through with our picnic and enjoyed what was left of the day.

Everything was just splendid. But I consider this the cherry on top of our vanilla ice cream of a day…

Teasing her on how “sexy” she looked in this photo and expecting her to protest this loudly after I say so, was I surprisingly amused when our divalette very candidly answered…

“Yes, I’m so hot (echoes of Paris Hilton) there”.

Definitely an OH-EM-GEE moment for me if there ever was one!   Suffice it to say I don’t think we’d ever have inferiority complex issues with this child.  Kids do say the darnest things!

Can’t help but remember an old song from Sesame Street (which I modified somewhat to suit my purposes )when I saw this in our backyard a day after the new year…

“Who are the people creatures in your neighborhood? They’re the critters that you meet when you’re walking down the street, they’re the critters that you meet each day!”

Admittedly another part of Aussie life I need to get used to is the presence (and variety!) of spiders almost everywhere!  Daddy Long Legs, House Spiders, Red Backs, Tarantulas (yikes!) … name it, they seem to have it! And it’s amazing too to see how fast they manage to spin their webs.

I only hope this doesn’t turn me into an arachnophobe soon!

I’m sure more surprises await us in the coming days and weeks – and I will surely let you in on such interesting “finds” as and when…

Until then.

It’s a year past the first decade of the 21st century and I just wanted to post our very first “New Year Holler” from Down Under…

Although this was originally taken on Christmas Eve when we found this “surprise visitor” clinging to the wall outside our front door – a few minutes after divalette got her “Chrissie pressies” delivered by a still unidentified “benefactor” (noting its bright green color, we honestly think it was one of ‘em Christmas elves who decided to do a “quick-change” since he didn’t manage to do a clean get-away after delivering his ”goods”) - I thought it fitting to use this tree frog as our family’s official “new year mascot”  given the Aussies’ seeming bent towards nature, wildlife and all-things-outdoorsy. Call it a tiny step towards integration to the Australian way of life, if you wish…

2010 has indeed been good to us and we know that 2011 will be even better – especially as we look forward to our new adventure here in kangaroo land.

And as we welcome the pleasant surprises and blessings in store for us in our new home, we pray that we always remember to give thanks, look back and learn from the lessons of the past and move forward into the future with hope and confidence in our gracious God’s love, provisions and infinite wisdom for our lives.

Hakuna matata (or “no worries” in the local lingo), mates!