I currently have the odd combination of a winter cold and severe sunburn- which means I cannot wear any clothes that in any way touch my body but all I want to do is wear a big ol' woolly jumper, a scarf and drink a hot toddy. In reality if I did this out here I would soon die of heat exhaustion.
Although I am severely burnt and like the pain to both my shoulders being clamped by GHD's- It is by all accounts the coldest start to a Sydney summer in 51 years. It is by no means cold though- the 'cold' I can stand as it rarely drop below 20 degree's- the rain on the other hand is a different matter and officially does my nut in.
There is not a lot happening at present- I am half led half slouched on the sofa with my housemate Brummie acting as my foot stool. There is some god awful space like monster movie on TV which nobody is paying much attention to. Perhaps this is because the French Revolutionaries are playing a very animated game of "tarot" pronounced "tarrow" which is a card game using a weird deck of 78 cards.
Our flat is consistently uncomfortably warm so we are all lounged around wearing tank tops and shorts and the male revolutionaries are topless- not going to lie- I have seen worse views- they keep themselves nicely tanned and toned and makes me want to get up in the morning that little bit faster. The fan is providing some cooling air and is half blowing the tinsel and lametta off the Christmas tree. We have done our best to make our flat look traditional and festive but I think we are all finding it hard to get into the Christmas spirit due to the lack of our individual Christmas routines and crippling cold we all are used to at this time of year.
I think I have written as much as I can about the current situations and goings on- so what I will do is make note of a few odd/ obscure/good and bad things I have noticed over the last 4 months.
TV and Averts- TV itself is horrendously out of date- at prime time it would not be strange to see Happy Days, Loveboat and the Brady Bunch live on the few digital channels we can get in our apartment. It is only recently where we have discovered a channel called 'Go' provides us with some much needed Big Bang Theory and the occasional episode of the Inbetweeners.
As for the adverts, some are simply mental and some just highlight the few cultural differences we have. The damn right odd ones are those that promote a product but has no brand attachment- they have adverts telling us to eat bananas, eggs and red meat. I could understand if it was promoting a brand or a shop but no- just saying we should eat meat?! Mental.
The cultural difference is highlighted in the festive adverts- where the "perfect gift" is a pair of surf boardies or a BBQ set. Upsettingly there is also a lack of Coca-Cola advert and though Toys R Us does exist- the advert doesn’t. Bad times my friends.
As you walk around Sydney you will see buses covered in tinsel and posters of Santa on a surf board- I hope that never becomes the norm in my mind as it’s just crazy!
Well… I say "as you walk around Sydney..." but the city is actually difficult to walk in as every two metres there is a set of traffic lights which appears to know when you are in a hurry and turn just as you approach the edge of the pavement. Honest to god the majority of these can take about 5 minutes to change again which makes it a mission to get anywhere on time.
Another strange thing I have noticed is the copious amount of sex shops, massage parlours and blatant brothels around the city. The shops are pure filth but are definitely worth a visit for the sheer comedy value.
Well it is getting late and I have 4 more days left of work to go before Christmas so I should probably get to bed. I have been planning my Christmas-day beach outing with the best back packers in the world- it will be strange but hopefully hot so we can swim, BBQ and party the day away!
Much love to all at home- I will try and write again before Christmas but we all know how bad I am at this!
xxx
