San Fran, Australia, Oxford then San Fran again

Another busy month, well two months since I last posted.

Mid-December I went to the AGU conference in San Francisco. My talk went well but the conference was huge so not as enjoyable as others. It was hard to meet up with the people I wanted to see. I had fun hanging out with Catia and Kieran - lots of eating and drinking. We even braved eating snails.

Kieran and I wandered through the Haight in San Fran. We found a chemist that sells dope if you have a script, a salon called the 'Wak Shack', an authentic car yard Christmas tree sale, and we sang Christmas carols with a homeless guy.

From there I flew to Hobart where Pete had already arrived. We had a wonderful week doing everything we missed. Stuart and Trish through us a party so we could catch up with everyone. We sat in the sun and ate 'real' food all week. But the best bit was being able to spend some time with Pam.

After that we flew to Mildura for Christmas with my family. Luke took a zillion photos, which Pete has put on our MSN. Probably don't mean much to any of you, but they really capture the day.

Then back to the good old US of A, but this time we went via Taiwan. Highly recommend doing this and splitting the trip up. We came in through Alaska (which, if you look on a globe is between Taiwan and New York.) Customs is much less stressful in Alaska than in LA.

New Years Eve

After arriving home in New Haven I got an email to say I had an interview in Oxford! Unfortunately my work visa had run out so I had to spend longer in England getting that sorted out. I had a lovely time staying with Pete's cousin Sam and her daughter Ella and then later Pete's Aunty Ann and Uncle Al. The photos are of us in the scarves Pam knitted for all of us.

The interview went well. I loved Oxford and would like to work there some day. I was the least experienced of the people they interviewed so I am not that confident of getting it.

I am now back home but leave for San Francisco again in less than a fortnight. I have a conference there for a week, on systematic errors in computer models (Great way to spend my birthday!) I am going to take an extra day there to play tourist and want to do a tour of Alcatraz.

First snow for the winter - just in time to leave

Hi everyone.

This morning we woke to the first snow of the winter. It was -7 degrees celcius and the weather channel said the wind chill factor brought it down to about -12. It was a lovely reminder of the winter about to hit. Luckily we are leaving very soon for Australia!

Here are some pictures of our car this morning. The car is called Eli because it seems that Eli is a common name around here. There is Eli Yale who donated money to the University to have it named after him and Eli Whitney who invented the cotton gin and henceforth cemented slavery into the US culture. Anyway here is Pete sweeping snow off Eli:

I am off to a conference in San Francisco in a couple of days. It won't be snowing there thank goodness.

Not much other news. I will see many of you very soon! Can't wait to be warm again.

Thanksgiving

November has been a very busy month... well at least the last few weeks have been.

Mid month we met up with my old Sydney flatmates, Mel and Elisabeth, and Mel's husband Brian, in Boston. We got tickets to a Yale-Harvard football game. By three quarter time we still couldn't figure out the rules and there was no beer being sold at the event, so we left. Because the drinking age is 21 here they have started to ban alcohol at Uni events which is just WRONG! Yale won by the way. The half time entertainment was a sight to behold. Marching bands and songs. And a skit by each team. Apparently God smote Yale but loves Harvard...?

Cheerleaders

Thanksgiving is huge in America and most people go home for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner which is a lot like our Christmas tradition. We went to a dinner at Yale the Monday before Thanksgiving so we could experience the 'real thing'. It was very yummy! Turkey and roast vegies with cranberry sauce and some sort of corn bake. I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie though - it doesn't have much taste except for the cinnamon. At the dessert stand I asked the server if I could have half a slice of pie. "No" she replied. "I don't care if you throw half of it away, you have to take the whole thing." This was especially odd as the event was held to raise money for the starving people in New Haven. Sorry they are not starving, they just have 'low food security'.

We took advantage of the fact that no one in America wants to travel Thanksgiving day (like Christmas day for us) and got a great deal to Washington DC. We flew there and spent 3 nights at the Hotel Washington which is pretty much across the road from the White House. We had a fantastic holiday! It is a beautiful city with lots of parks and the Smithsonian Institute. I thought the Smithsonian would be just a science museum and an art gallery - boy was I wrong! There are about ten museums/art galleries that are absolutely huge - and they are all free. Plus about ten others not associated with the Smithsonian. We love that sort of thing and went to the air and space museum, the Natural History Museum and some art galleries. We ran out of time to see them all. I was a bit disappointed that the Natural History Museum had a display that said the earth was cooling. We found the Academy of Science museum though and it had an awesome display about global warming so I was happy. Shame we were the only ones in it!

We found the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials quite interesting and learnt a bit about American History. OK, so I had to go read the kids' books in the tourist shop to figure out some of it! Ignorant Australian! Apparently Thomas Jefferson set up the National Academy of Science to advise the government. Shame he didn't specify that the government was obliged to listen.

At the start of our holiday we spent a bit of time walking around trying to find the White House. We weren't sure what it looked like and didn't like to show our ignorance by asking someone. Eventually we stumbled across it, and took lots of photos.... only to realise later it was the back of the White House. Ignorant Australians. Needless to say George wasn't in the back yard and didn't invite us in for a drink.

I met a White House Intern in a bar one night and had a very interesting chat. He told me he makes coffee for George. My instant reply was 'Do you spit in it?' By the look on his face, I don't think anyone had asked him that before. Nevertheless I spent a good hour explaining global warming over a few drinks, so feel that I may have made some contribution toward getting the US to sign Kyoto. Hey - its the closest I'll ever get to George's ear.

I am back today from giving a seminar at WHOI. For non-oceanographers. That is the Woods Hole Oceanography Institute at Cape Cod which is about 3 and a half hours drive away. It went OK, but I enjoyed Princeton more. I did get to have a big chat with Joe Pedlosky who is lovely and very encouraging.

In less than 2 weeks I leave for a Conference in San Francisco and Pete is off to Australia. Looking forward to getting home. Have been feeling a bit homesick lately. After having to eat out in Washington and Woods Hole for the last week, I've discovered that I've become a fussy eater. I refuse to eat hot dogs, hamburgers, jumbo shrimp, buffallo wings, cheese pizza, high fructose corn syrup and American chocolate. Hence there isn't a lot of choice! Can't wait for lunch at Sugo in Salamanca.














The back of the White House The front of the White House

Halloween

Last night we went to our first Halloween party. Halloween is huge here - bigger than Easter. Whole shops have opened up selling just Halloween costumes and decorations. You don't have to dress as something scary like a ghost though - you can be anything. It seems more like a time to dress as your favourite sexual fantasty. Most of the costumes are nurses, school girls, S&M etc.

It was quite a dilemma what we should dress up as. First we thought of going as Americans, but as Americans really don't know how to laugh at themselves we decided this wasn't wise. We then thought of going as Vegemite as it has been recently banned in America. In the end we thought is was best to laugh at ourselves as so we went as feral Tasmanians - complete with stripy thermals. I had a lacy slip on the outside. I also added extra underarm and leg hair. I think the most well recieved part was the map of Tasmania I had stuck underneath my skirt.


Tuesday is the actual day of Halloween. We have bought lots of candy (lollies) so we'd better get lots of kids coming.


Other news this month... not a lot. Busy working. I went to Princeton University to give a talk which went really well.

We've decided that for thanksgiving we are going to Washington DC. Las Vegas is too far away for a short trip.

Happy September

I have just decided to quit Hip Hop classes. I've been a few times in an effort to learn to be an American. My conclusion is that I'm not hip enough and these classes aren't going to change that!

September has been a fantastic month. Pete has been at his new job for a bit over three weeks and seems to be loving it. He is helping the professors make their courses work online.

The first weekend in September my old flatmate from Sydney, Elisabeth, (who now lives in Manhattan) came to stay. We ate and drank and on Sunday morning Pete and I went in our first 5km fun run. I was very excited cos I managed to run the whole way - though fairly slowly! Pete did really well, and needless to say finished well before me. Elisabeth was upset that her camera died just as I came to the finish line - but I was somewhat relieved!

The next weekend we did another run, both beating our best times by about 90sec. If Pete had been a girl he would've got a trophy. I was just happy that I beat the 81 year old guy.

The third weekend we found a lovely beach track to run. I like this much better as the fun runs are a bit stressful. Pete has started doing his own runs for about 10km around town in the evenings. As I said, I've decided to drop Hip Hop, but I still do aerobics twice a week. I enrolled for what sounded like a fun class earlier this month called NIA. It turned out to be too new age for me - too much feel the energy flows and not enough ab crunches. I've found a better one now that leaves me quite exhausted twice a week.

Last weekend we went on a geology field trip with Yale. I am in the Geology and Geophysics department so we thought we should go and learn something about rocks. Pete was especially keen to go and I think he was the most excited student there, asking heaps of questions and banging rocks with a hammer. Connecticut used to be about 20ft under lava flows so it was pretty interesting learning all about that. We were also supposed to be looking for dinosaur footprints - but what they found was fairly tenuous.

This weekend we've been in Vermont. It is fall here and we went leaf-peeping. The hillsides are gorgeous - completely covered with pink, yellow and orange leaves. We managed a 3 hour hike this morning but the day before it rained all day. Instead we went touring cheese factories and wine tasting. We are eating the cheeses for dinner now as I type. I really wanted to see a woodpecker - but we only saw the holes in the trees. We went to a great American diner for tea one night. I had a locally farmed bison burger and biscuits and gravy. Biscuits are like dumplings that you would have with stew. We could hardly eat the next day.

So as you can tell, life has gotten pretty exciting since we got a car and two incomes!

Next month we are thinking of going to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving - there are cheap flights in the afternoon, the same as there would be Christmas afternoon in Australia. Thanksgiving is a big deal here so everyone tries to go home to be with their families and eat turkey.

We also have the Yale-Harvard football game in November which Elisabeth, Mel and Brian are coming to. I am giving a talk at Woods Hole on the 23rd November so it will be another busy month.

Our plans for Christmas are to visit Tassie the week before and then fly to Mildura Christmas eve until the 30th. We get back to NY just in time for new year's eve. It will be a rush trip so apologies in advance if we don't get to catch up with everyone. I will be giving a talk at CSIRO on the 21st Dec.

Stay tuned for October's adventures - hopefully a quiet one with November looking so busy. So far the only plans are that I am giving a talk at Princeton.

Photos

This is Pete at the East Rock outlook.












This is Pete before his job interview.

He got the job!

Quick post: Pete got the job! He starts on either the 5th September or the 11th (ominous). Huge relief.

Pete has an interview

Pete had a phone interview last week at Quinnipiac University. He has a face to face interview next week. We are optomistic as they seem very keen to talk to him. The job is overseeing the implementation of online university courses. Its not the same as his last job but there is some overlap that makes him very employable at this one.

We have found a car to buy. A friend is leaving and wants to sell hers. It isn't quite the convertible I'd like but it will do the job, especially if Pete gets this job cos he'll have to drive to work.

Its been really quiet here. Lots of people go on holiday over summer, I think I'm the only one that hasn't. School goes back soon so it will get busy again. The peace and quiet has been good for getting work done even though its been lonely. I've now submitted my third paper and the first two have been accepted.

Pete has been busy stocking the freezer with homemade pesto and baked beans (not together). I suppose that is what we will live on when he starts work! I will miss having him at my beck and call. Really there should be a law that once a man gets married he shouldn't be allowed to work.

Our running is progressing well. We left the treadmills for the indoor running track and this week have even ventured to outside running. I am doing almost 5km and Pete does about 8. The fun run is in a fortnight so we should be well and truly ready for it.

We love it, we hate it.

The last couple of weeks have been an emotional roller coaster on the work front for Pete.
He finally got his work visa - Yay!!!! So now he can legally get a job in the US.
Then his social security number arrived. Yay - Pete exists as a real person in this country.
AND THEN - he got a job interview as a science teacher at a local high school.

We thought our problems were solved until a letter arrived from the Connecticut department of Education. Pete can't be certified as a teacher as his undergraduate degree is not adequate. He has to go back to Uni and take three courses, one in US History and two out of English, Fine Art and foreign languages. Needless to say we were fuming. He was happy to jump through the hoops and pay all the fees to show he was qualified. But this is just ridiculous - why do you need to know US History to teach Chemisty? &*(^%ing America. It will also cost about $5000 US and a lot of evenings and weekends studying to go through this process. No cheap education in this country - especially for foreigners.

This morning he went to the job interview anyway. They offered him the job - but not on full pay. It turns out they can hire him as a long term substitute teacher on a bit more than half the salary he would get if he was certified. They also encouraged him to do the Uni courses while he teaches and they will employ him at full salary when certified.

So now the dilemma....what to do. I couldn't bear taking useless undergrad courses myself, especially with those fees and I don't think he wants to either. We are searching around for other alternatives. There is private school but they don't seem to be in need of science teachers at the moment. There is also community college - which is looking like a good option. It is a bit like a TAFE where you can take Uni degrees. You only need a masters to teach there which Pete has.

On a happier note, the weather is exciting. Today was about 33 degrees with really high humidity. The weather channel says it 'feels like' 38. Now there is a huge thunderstorm. We get lots of thunderstorms and the radar images are really high resolution so you can watch the storms come. The rain is just like Darwin - you can stand in it and it feels like a warm bath (yes I'm the only one in the street who stands in the rain). Tomorrow is going to be 35 without the rain. We don't have an air conditioner either. I wonder if we did, whether we would save money by buying less beer?

Despite the heat we went to the gym this arvo. It is air conditioned - but not very well (Actually the best place to hang out is the supermarket). Anyway we are in training for a 5km fun run in September. This will be easy for Pete but still a challenge for me (some of us have to go to work in the day rather than hanging out at the gym).

Time for tea - Pete is cooking corn on the cob (in the microwave) I won't let him use the stove cos its too hot. Actually I suggested ice cream for tea but he wasn't in to it.

Hopefull the next blog entry will be about Pete finding a really cool job.

New York, New York

Never a dull moment around here. Two weekends have passed since I last blogged, always busy doing something.

The Sunday before last we went to New York for the day. I had a meeting at Princeton (New Jersey, south of NY) on the Monday so we decided to spend the day in NY on the way down. We spent the day with my flatmate from my Sydney days, Elisabeth. Elisabeth lives in Manhattan on the route that the 'Sex and the City' tour bus takes. She has a cute apartment with a great view of Manhattan. NY city is a crazy place though. Elisabeth's apartment has a guy who has the job of spinning the revolving door when you walk through! And you have to give each of them a big tip at the end of the year. There are people walking round the street with their dogs - in prams! There was a gay pride parade on the day we were there but it was pretty disappointing compared to the Sydney Mardi Gras.

That afternoon we went to the Guggenheim. Elisabeth could get us in for free cos she a free pass from her work. I'm glad we didn't pay cos the main exhibition was crap. I'm also glad Elisabeth was there to keep me company while Pete looked at things! The exhibition was by an architect - though we only found one of her designs that had actually been built. Most were pretty weird.

After that we went to a Mexican restaurant and Pete had cactus for tea. The best bit was catching up with Elisabeth though.

I headed on to Princeton and Pete went home. Princeton is pretty much just a University town, not much else there. It is lovely though with lots of trees but a bit dull. I met with George Philander and his group and talked work. That evening we went to George's for a drink. It was a great example of the multicultural nature of oceanography. There were no Americans there, instead George is from South Africa, his wife Argentina, there was guys from Italy and Uraguay and Alexey (Russian) and me.

On the way back to New Haven I had MacDonalds for the first time in the US. Pretty much the same as in Australia - though I haven't eaten at MacDonalds for a long time!

The last weekend was totally hectic. Friday night we had dinner at Alison and Jon's. Jon is Australian and we were invited with the hope we would bring an Australian dessert, so I made a trifle. Jon has been in the US for years so I think he was a bit homesick. Alison told me he was eating left over trifle for breakfast the next couple of days.

Saturday morning we went to the gym. Pete has become a bit of a gym junkie - he goes to the gym which is about every second day. I'm worried about the effect this will have on the grocery budget. After that we went shopping. Pete has put us on a monthly budget which is very painful. I hate not having the money we used to have in Hobart! Saturday night we had dinner with a work friend Steve Sherwood and his family. His wife is from New Zealand.

Sunday morning we went hiking with Steve and Tracy and Tracy's Mum. There is a place called Sleeping Giant, along the lines of Sleeping Beauty in Hobart without the breasts. In fact we climed to the highest point which was called his 'knob' and was positioned somewhere near his knees. We are standing on his knob in the photo. The whole hike was about 4 hours long so we were pretty buggered after that.

Tuesday was Independence Day - the fourth of July. Fireworks all weekend. We spent last night on top of the geology building watching the local fireworks. Next year I think we will try to go to Boston or New York where the fireworks are much more spectacular.

Happy Fathers's Day

It is getting hot here. Today is supposed to be 31. We are trying to see if we can survive without an air conditioner - tough Australians!

Happy American Fathers' Day to all the Dads.

Pete's latest adventure was getting a haircut. Trying to get the full American experience he decided to go to the barber around the corner. Let me just say that normally Pete goes to Tease or Nishler in Hobart. It turns out that this particular barber is African American and doesn't seem to have ever cut a white person's hair. In fact he doesn't have any scissors - just clippers. The barber got out his clippers, put them on number 4 and somewhat randomly trimmed Pete's hair. It looks ...ahhh.. different. Next time he should probably ask for braiding, that seems to be more the thing around here for men.

At the moment Pete is studying for a teaching exam. There are three parts. One is maths multiple choice which he should be fine at. The only difficulty is that they word the questions differently to in Australia. There is an essay question that seems quite simple and the sample answers that do well are very basic - so he should be fine. The comprehension and grammar section seem to be the trickiest as they are multiple choice and ambiguous. I think they are 'stupid' which is why I did a science degree. We are trying to do the practice questions but I think having a science background is a disadvantage as we keep approaching them analytically. Have a go yourself ....

Work is still going well. I'm starting to get some interesting results on one of my projects.

This afternoon - after Pete watches the Australia vs. Brazil soccer game - we are going for another walk through the black neighbourhood. This time to visit a bar called 'Tas-maniacs'. We don't know what it is about. People seem to know about Tasmanian Devils though - I suppose that is thanks to Walt Disney and maybe also the zoos.

baseball and a busy culture week

Its been a busy week. Pete is still settling in and trying to figure out how to get a job in the US.

Last Tuesday we went to the baseball in the Bronx. We watched the Boston Red Sox vs the Yankees. New York is only about 90mins away by car so we could just go down for the evening with my work friends Bryan and Florian. Bryan is a huge Red Soxs fan but kept suitably quiet as we were surrounded by Yankee fans. Before the game we went to a diner which looked just like in the movies. We had hamburgers. Pete of course had a vegie burger and they even asked him how he wanted it done. The burgers were pretty gross and we were still full at lunch the next day. When we tried to get into the stadium I got stopped cos I had 2 bags - by handbag and my groovy red cloth bag that I take everywhere to avoid plastic bags. The bag had chips and drinks in it. The security person said I could only take in one bag. So I called Florian back and put my handbag around his neck (Florian is German and looks like someone that could feasibly have a man bag) THat wasn't allowed cos Florian was a man and couldn't bring in a bag - only women were allowed to have bags. So then I put my handbag into my red bag but that wasn't allowed either. The guard was getting shitty at this point and directed us out of the line. A different securty guard explained that my red bag could be used as a weapon. So we got a plastic bag and put the chips and drinks in (plastic bags are allowed and were supplied) I didn't even try to explain about global warming and America being addicted to oil, I just politely took the bag. A guard suggested we could just hide my red bag in my handbag and try to get back in. I was too scared though - NY security guards aren't friendly. So we went back to the car, dumped the red bag and went back in with my handbag and the plastic bag of chips. A true American experience.

The baseball was better than expected. It goes a lot faster than cricket. Half way through we got to stand up and sing God Bless America - only one verse though - I don't think the attention span is long enough for much more. A guy ran onto the field which is a $1000 fine - just like in Australia you are thinking - but no. He was fully clothed. (And the Americans thought I was strange cos I was disappointed that he was clothed.) The other difference was that at least 15 cops ran onto the field and tackled him. They could've just formed a circle around him, but no they had to try and dislocate his neck. Baseball was fun to watch though.

On Thursday we went to happy hour which was cheap beer and 20c chicken wings in 32 different flavours. Yum!

On Sunday we went to the US equivalent of a neighbourhood watch BBQ. We learnt that we are just around the corner from a place that helps down and out people. They have an international night once a month so we might go and talk about Australia sometime.

After that we went for a walk down Dixwell Ave which is through the black neighbourhood (yes segregation is alive and well). I felt conspicuous but Pete didn't. I felt like I was intruding. It was pretty interesting though and I hope Pete gets a job near there somewhere so we can learn more. There were kids everywhere outside playing and riding bikes. Is this because they can't afford an x-box or is it a cultural thing? There were lots of beauty parlours. African American women often have really elaborate braiding. We also walked past a lot of churches. Some that sounded like night clubs! And the men outside were wearing suits that were purple or gold etc, not boring black. Lots of people were also sitting on their front porch. It actually reminded me of life when I was a kid.

Big news - my first paper has now been accepted with minor corrections. Trevor tells me one down 99 to go before I retire. Seeing as it has taken 6 and a half years for one I'm not too hopeful of early retirement. I shall tell myself it is quality and not quantity.

By the way, we managed to find some summer clothes for Pete.

Pete is home!

Pete finally made it home. He was on time when he got to NY but then the plane crashed into a fence while it was trying to park so he got stuck on there for what seemed like forever. I went to meet him in NY.

I am leaving work early today to go to the mall now. Pete needs some summer clothes -its pretty hot here. We also need to buy an air conditioner. It is only about 26 degrees but humidity is up around 80-90%.

Gotta run to get the bus.

Jaci xx

One more sleep

One more sleep till Pete gets home! Apparently Americans don't count 'sleeps', maybe it is an Australian thing. They think I am 'cute' when I do. Actually I'm continuously being told that being Australian and my accent is 'cute'. I've never really considered the Australian accent cute, or our behaviour!

Pete tells me that heaps of Hobartians are reading this blog. But none of you are posting comments! Please click on add comment and tell me if you are reading this. I'm curious to know who I am talking to.

I'm off to the mall (shopping centre) now. Trying to keep myself busy cos I'm too excited to sit still!

I'm legally allowed to drive!

This morning I became an official member of the American driving public. No I didn't buy I car, I passed my driving test. I was a bit nervous on account of having failed my Australian Ps the first time round. First I had a 14 question computer exam. I got two questions wrong the first was "What percentage of fatal accidents involve alcohol? a) 60%, b) 50% or c) 40%. I'd thought it was 40, but didn't think they'd make the correct answer the lowest, so guessed 60. It was actually 40. Not sure how knowing this makes me a better driver. Is the difference between 40 and 50% statistically significant anyway?

I was most nervous about the actual driving part of the test. Which began with me going to the passenger door instead of the driver's. You don't fail for that though. I made a big show of then adjusting every mirror, even though I'd already done it before I got there. The drive was easy, just did a big block. Had to stop on a quiet street and do a three point turn. When we got back the tester asked me if I was good at parking. I said 'sure, I just don't LIKE doing it.' He didn't have a sense of humour. He asked me to parallel park in a spot that had no cars either side. It is actually tricky cos you don't know where the lines are and if it was real life you would drive in forwards anyway. I asked him if he would like to get out and pretend to be a car but he didn't find that humourous either. So the park went fine. I had been worried that I would have to reverse into a 90 degree park which is what they usually get you to do. I'd been practicing heaps but then didn't even need to do it. So passed with flying colours except once he reckoned I didn't use a blinker.

Dad had advised me to wink at the instructor (such faith in my driving skills) but it wasn't necessary. I had about 4 blokes in the office wanting me to teach them to say 'No worries mate' and how to pronounce 'sheila'. Apparently Australians do a lot of infomercials here.

So now I have 6 days before Pete gets back to get the car I want before he can stop me!

It has been a busy week prior to all this car business. My PhD supervisor Stuart and his wife Trish came to stay last week. It was great fun. I didn't realise how much I missed having someone else living in my house. Stuart and I worked on some papers from my PhD which seem to be shaping up well. We are hopeful the first two will make it through round 2 with the reviewers and we are working on the third. The third may be chopped into two papers, depending on what else we come up with. Stuart and I also discussed my new project on permanent El Nino and have come up with some ideas about how to approach it. Poor Trish had to sit through our non-stop work chatter. I wish it had been Pete so I could get revenge for all the teacher-talk I've sat through! Trish made us pizza from real pizza dough, not the ready made bases from the supermarket. I will have to try doing it myself. We also went to a great Japanese restaurant which I have probably mentioned before. It is called Miyas and has crazy sushi rolls with fillings like cranberry, goats cheese, banana and so on. It is my favourite place to eat but not usually in my budget (Yale shouted that one). It was also refreshing to hear some good old Australian cynicism about politics. People don't really bag George Bush here, not like we do.

Saturday night I went to a night club for Cathy's birthday. Cathy is one of my workmates. I haven't been out dancing for a long time. I'm getting old. Had a ball. There were a bunch of hens nights on so I took it upon myself to try and hook up some of my single male friends with them. I did succeed in getting one guy to do a shot out of a bride-to-be's belly button (how is that for alliteration). At one point I was chatting to a girl about my two mates. She said to me "You have such a cute accent, its awesome. I'd wouldn't mind %^&$ing you!" (Not my objective for the evening, but it sucks being married sometimes!)

Speaking of being married, Pete is back on Monday and so my married singledom ends. I think it has been very good for me learning to live alone - I haven't done it much. I can't wait till he gets back though!!! At least when he is around a packet of saltines (dry biscuits) and a bowl of ice cream is not considered dinner. I haven't resorted to eating the icecream straight from the tub which would be true Bridget Jones singledom.

This weekend Billy Kessler is visiting - he is an excellent oceanographer from Seattle. I also have to scrub the apartment so Pete thinks that it's always that clean when he isn't around.

More later - post Pete arrival. At least when he is back I'll be able to add photos to this blog.
See ya

Angry

This makes me very angry.
http://streams.cei.org/

17 days to go.

Only 17 day still Pete gets back! He has been gone nearly eight weeks and I'm a bit sick of it now.

Steve's wife Tracy has left for Mississippi for two months so we are bach-ing together. Last Tuesday I cooked dinner for him and tomorrow he is cooking ribs (not something I normally get at home.)

Happy hour at work has become a weekly Wednesday event here which saves cooking one night a week. Last week we went to a great sushi place that does weird stuff. You can get sushi rolls with fillings like banana, cream cheese, brocolli, cranberry, all sorts of unexpected things. The week before was free burittos and half price margaritas and next week we are going to a museum opening related to the geology department with free food and wine. Its just like being a student all over again.

My PhD supervisor Stuart and his wife Trish are coming in a couple of days. I'm really looking forward to it, and hopefully we will clear up a few issues on some of my papers so I can get them published - Finally - I'm so sick of them.

Next weekend Steve is going to give me driving lessons in preparation for my driving test. I'm pretty nervous about it. What if I fail???

Then the next weekend Billy Kessler is coming to visit. And then the next day Pete will be back!

Hmmm, what else is news? I'm slowly getting the hang of the US so not as many dramas to report.

I'm proud to report that my electricity is coming from hydro, wind or nuclear. Well actually I think I may be getting duped, but I pay more on my electricity bill which I think subsidises the cost of alternative energy sources.

Did I tell you that the president of China was here a few weeks ago? It was pretty exciting. Protests etc. I learnt all about the Falun gong and went to a really good discussion panel on the problems facing China.

There are so many talks on. I went to one last week from Sir some-or-other about how scientific discoveries are made. Unfortanately I missed one at the same time from the Chief of BP's science division. There was even one by the guy who invented the Dyson vaccuum cleaner.

Talking to Liss on MSN now, bye!

House warming party

Hmm, the novelty of blogging is wearing off. Or maybe I just have more to do now.

A couple of weekends ago I had my housewarming party. Quite proud of myself really - first party I've ever held all by myself. Australian food went down a treat. I finally got the Anzac bikkies to work along with the Lamingtons. Had some Cadburys chocolate, vegemite sandwiches, date scones and fairy bread. It seems fairy bread is Australian, no one else there seemed to know it. One small disaster.....went to buy the alcohol Sunday morning before the party. Only problem - can't buy booze on Sundays in New Haven. Luckily Steve and Tracy had some at home that they brought along. They also brought a friend that had just arrived from Australia and she'd brought Tim Tams and Jatz bikkies with her. Yum!!

Last weekend, my old flatmate in Sydney, who now lives in Boston, came to stay with her partner Brian. We mostly ate and drank. Got drunk on Sake and ate lots of ice cream (not at the same time).

I have just arrived home from happy hour (on a Wednesday) - having trouble typing. Half price margaritas and free burritos. After drinking we went back to friends' apartment for more drinks. It so happens that they live in the apartment that the Bush's (snr) lived in when they went to Yale. Yes I was in the room that George was conceived in!

Can't figure out how to get photos off my camera and on to the laptop. So hopefully when Pete gets back he can do this (26 days to go). Maybe I have just had too much to drink.

Bye!

Trying to cook..

My new apartment looks great. Everything works now and the toilet finally flushes properly.

The latest drama is trying to bake. I'm having a housewarming party next weekend and promised to provide some Australian food. Lamingtons are the obvious first choice. I can't find anywhere to buy slab sponge though so decided I should cook my own. I finally found the ingredients, note that corn flour is called corn starch here (I hope) and I can't find custard powder. I think custard powder is an English thing and you have to order it on special websites. Haven't cooked the sponge yet, will let you know how it goes.

I also decided Anzac biscuits would be a good idea especially as it is nearly Anzac day. I even got some golden syrup shipped in especially! There was no desiccated coconut so I thought I just get the sweetened type they have here which is in larger shreds like grated cheese. It tastes like its been soaking in condensed milk. So I set about making the Anzacs only to discover I didn't have any mixing bowls. Went to the Family Dollar store which is a bit like chicken feed and stocked up on cooking utensils. To cut a long story short, the biscuits didn't work. They just sort of melted and boiled and taste a lot like toffee. I think that the desiccated coconut normally soaks up a lot of the liquid, which didn't happen in this case. So I now have a batch of sticky not-quite-Anzac biscuits. Not sure what I'll do with them. Have ordered some desiccated coconut on ebay, not sure if it will get here on time.

Tablespoons here are smaller than in Australia. They are only 15ml instead of 20 - a trap for the unaware!

Am having trouble adjusting to only having one person in the house. I have too much food in the house and no one to eat it. Especially as I've been out nearly every night.

On Wednesday a friend from work, Bryan had me and another guy from the lab, Florian, over for dinner. He cooked us a big steak and acorn squash. The acorn squash looked like a pumpkin to me, but Bryan says its different and anyway Americans don't eat pumpkin straight, they only put it in pies and stuff. So he cut the squash in half, scooped out the seeds, and in their place put about 1 Tbs butter, 1 Tbs maple syrup and 1 Tbs brown sugar, and then you bake it for an hour. Despite sounding atrocious to the Australian palette it was actually quite yummy!

Last night we went to happy hour which comes with complimentary 'buffalo wings'. Which are chicken wings marinated in a foul bright orange sauce. Not my thing really.

Tonight I am going to dinner with Steve and Tracy at a Japanese restaurant. Looking forward to it but at the moment I am still full of burnt Anzac biscuits. Hopefully I will get hungry again soon.

Today is Good Friday - which you would assume is a public holiday. Not so. I am supposed to be at work today. The postman doesn't have the day off either it seems. They even have to work on Saturdays!

Am off to 'Edge of the Woods' now. Its a small shop that has organic fruit and vegies - a bit like Eumurrah in Hobart. I'm hoping it may have desiccated coconut.

bye,
Jaci xx

Disillusioned

I'm in my new apartment! Yay! It is so big compared to the last one. As soon as I find some batteries for my camera I will post some photos. I have the usual hiccups of moving into a new place - the biggest is that I can't get my internet connection to work. The technicians are coming again on Sunday but they are pretty useless.

I am at work on a Saturday today at a forum on carbon sequestration (that means pumping carbon dioxide underground to reduce global warming). I was invited to the forum dinner by the guy in charge cos I am one of those 'environmental people'. He thinks I am odd because I insist on bringing my own plate to the Friday free lunches instead of using the disposable plastic ones. The next talk is from a guy who works in Europe on helping countries implement Kyoto. It is very interesting to think about why Europe so willingly takes on Kyoto but the US doesn't. Americans feel they have 'rights' such as the right to drive an SUV. Whereas I get the impression that elsewhere people have a stronger social conscience. The individual's right for an SUV is not as valid as the rights of everyone in the world to live on an earth that is not destroyed by global warming. So in Australia it seems we've been trying to educate the public to change behaviours while here they think this can't be done and the only way to combat global warming is by economic pressure and technology. It is also interesting that when the scientists here talk about political change, they don't even bother with the Bush Administration. They are targeting the people who are likely to be in power next.

In summary, I am too idealistic to live in this country!

My first lecture went well last week. I spent a good part of it explaining the southern hemisphere. A mistake I did make was assuming too much knowledge about El Nino. The students told me they knew what El Nino was - it turns out they didn't know much at all! I'm giving another next week so will start a lot simpler. This time it is on the Indian Ocean.