Week 5

Is this really only the fifth week we've been here? So much has happened. We are still on a bit of a rollercoaster of enjoying it and wishing we were home. I (Jaci) set up her new laptop to cycle through photos from home (farewell BBQ, wedding, Simon's party, Cairns etc.) but it is making me too homesick so it will soon get turned off.

Last Friday we went to the movies with our Australian friends Tracy and Steve. The medical school (just down the road) puts on movies and it only costs $10 for the whole semester, so that may become a habit for Friday nights.

Saturday morning we went to Boston to spend the weekend with my old flatmate from Sydney, Mel and her partner Brian. It was both Mel and Jaci's birthday on Sunday so we celebrated together. Saturday we went out to dinner at an Afgan restaurant followed by cocktails. Sunday we mostly stayed in as there was a huge snowfall overnight and during the day. (see photos - Jaci is almost knee deep in snow!) We hope to catch up with my other ex-flatmate Elisabeth in New York sometime soon.
Grandma - the scarf you knitted me is coming in very handy.
Mum - the bag you made may have to be put away till it gets warmer - it would get covered in snow then the snow would melt so it would get quite wet.

We now have cable, our own internet access and a landline phone. After one night we decided that we should probably get the cable service switched off - it is all crap. We will give it a few months till we move to the next place though. We have found an old movie channel and are watching James Bond movies at the moment which are OK. Otherwise it is just repeats of sitcoms like Seinfeld. Watching ads is fun at the moment - will we ever think the ads are normal?

The phone is also proving to be a burden. Apart from Pete's Mum Pam, the only people that have rung us are telemarketers - and they ring constantly - so we think we should get that disconnected too and just use our mobiles which financially is a better idea anyway.

Pete had an interesting run in with one telemarketer trying to get donations for the police force. Pete was quite confused about this as the police are paid by the state. With your donation you get a car wallet holder advertising your donation- which we infer is for when the police pull you over - they know that you have donated money to the police force to fund their retirements. Pete suggestted this was corruption and tried to engage the telemarketer in a long debate. The telemarketer asked Pete how long he'd been in the country and then promised not to ring for a few months till he'd got the hang of American culture. If only it was that easy to get rid of all of them. We have signed up to some website to stop them ringing but we figure there is a delay before that kicks in.

Can anyone explain shoes to us in this country? Jaci has been shoe shopping but can't find any shoes that fit. They are too long but not wide enough. The last pair she bought here she had to resort to buying mens' shoes. She has wide feet but it was never a problem in Australia! This place is full of Cinderellas.

The other dilemma is codeine. Jaci stocked up on migraine tablets before we left but didn't think about buying extra panadeine. Turns out codeine is a low level addictive drug here and you have to have a script for it. They also monitor how much is prescribed. Americans with migraines are just told to take Nurofen and go home to bed! No way would Jaci cope with that. The doctor here has agreed to prescribe Jaci some though. Not sure why you would take codeine if you weren't in pain - it gives you terrible constipation.

One of the Australian guys at work has just been back home and returned with a can of baked beans which we are saving for a special occasion.

Today we got our first internet delivery of groceries. While it was wonderful to not have to leave home to get groceries, the number of plastic bags they arrived in is a serious problem for our greenie conscienciouses. They typically had two items in each bag but double bagged - so effectively one bag per item. Without this though we have to go to the supermarket every few days as we can't carry much home at a time. It will be easier when we get a car. Don't even start me on how big the cars are...

Miss you all and thank you for the birthday wishes.
Jaci and Pete xx