Entries this day: Breakfast Bryn

Breakfast

8:50am Friday 16 February 2001 (17 hours ahead of CST)

Wende and I are just now awake. The house is bustling with breakfast noises and fragrances. I'm about to go do errands with Nick and then we'll pick up Bryn at noon!

I've been very excited about getting to see Bryn; I've had at least 3 dreams about seeing her in the past 2 nights.

Last night we had lots of family over to Nick and Irene's for dinner and a surprise celebration for Nick's parent's 32nd wedding anniversary!

We had Texas style food last night - barbecued meat and sausage, potato salad, pasta salad (with pasta pieces in the shape of Texas) and ranch style beans.

For the party, we had lamingtons, small cake (size of a candy bar) with chocolate and coconut on top. I grabbed one and offered it to Wende. She was like, "eww coconut; no way" so I took a bite and it was very spongey. In my mind: hmmm, you wouldn't like the texture... and I kept trying to bite through it, but(!) it was foam rubber! Hahahhahahahaahaha!!!

Those in the know were laughin' and said, "shhh shhh don't give it away."

There were seven foam rubber lamingtons among about 16 or 20 real ones.

I talked a lot with Elizabeth who is in some type of hospitality school; she can carry six plates now and even demonstrated for us with paper plates.

Breakfast now.

Bryn

10:21 am Friday 16 February 2001

Nick made a great breakfast for us of eggs, bacon, toast. No vegemite today.

We are in Emma's car now going to the bank and other errands and stuff.

Interesting: All youth between 18 and 21 must have stickers on their windshield that have a big white "P" on red background. It stands for probationary. It's a national thing, says Nick. Nick is driving so we pulled them off. They are that flimsy plastic-ish material that adheres to any smooth surface yet pulls off easily.

When Nick started the car, awesome thumping beats thumped from her CD player. The CD has progressed into music that is basically rock with an electronic pipe organ in the background; I'm not very impressed with this part. Oh well.

One interesting thing I've noticed is that I'm hard pressed to guess what someone's voice will sound like when I see them. I imagine one could have predicted such a challenge would arise, but I didn't.

10:46 am

Tom and I just made up a new game called P on the Ceiling! These P's are cut so that they will stick to the ceiling kinda like velcro. Very funny.

5:36 pm

Huge big hug to Bryn when she came out of the jetway. So good to see her!!

Talk talk talk talk talk all the way back to the house and talk talk to family while sitting on the inflatable couch in the living room.

Then Nick and Irene dropped Wende, Bryn and me off at the train station and we are in downtown Melbourne seeing the city and looking for a kangaroo scrotum coin purse for $5 US.

We are right now inside the Daimaru, the big big shopping center in Melbourne, which has a large glass tower built entirely around an old brick building and tower thing. Now the brick tower is inside and in the air conditioning instead of outside with the rest of the buildings.

We just ate ice cream from New Zealand Ice Cream, and it's pretty good; similar to Amy's or Marble Slab, but smaller.

But just now, the very most amazing thing in ice cream history: wasabi ice cream. I just had a sample, and it tastes cold and sweet like ice cream, while hot like wasabi. Wasabi!

I offered some to Bryn and she tasted it, and then was all, "bluh blah bluh yuck! what is that? I guess I should have asked first."

That was funny.

I think I'll take a picture of the label.

7:02 pm

We are at Hard Rock Cafe. I bought a Beastie Boys 2001 calendar for $20 AUS.

Bryn says:

Hard rock cafe is my favorite restaurant. this experience is bomb. oz is bomb, we saw so many cheap ass australian shops today i'm surprised rob and wende aren't tired of this place already. and yet they trek on. tomorrow is the wedding. rob is my "sit next to" date. because this is rob's i will now take this opportunity to write to rob. we haven't spoken as much since i've beAn here as we did back home, and definitely not as much as had invisioned, but its not a bad thing because as you, wende, and i sit happily at a table, (a bit chilly on wende and i's sides) i realize we were never that far apart. how easy it has beAn to smile at old things and, well to just smile being here. its good. i hope i haven't changed too much. i hope it remains this good and this exciting. you are eating big nachos. life will proceed. i love being here with you and wende. this is infintely good.

   i love you. smile.

brynsies

8:37 pm

Beaner and I are watching Aussie Rules Football (or just OZ Rules (or just footy)) and Wende has gone to Target to get towels for tomorrow. Bryn is writing a card to her sister Melissa.

OZ Rules is a wacky crazy wild high pace wild game. Rugy shaped ball and players can kick, run, hit the ball in any direction to get the ball through their intended goalpost. Players can be tackled, have the ball stripped, grab shirt, anything (it seems). They wear no protective gear except for shirt and shorts.. Wow.

It's still light outside even thought it's so late. I *love* that part of summer!

(Oh, a difference in culture: waitstaff are not tipped in restaurants. They get paid hourly and that's it. Therefore we can sit here all night and the waiter doesn't care. The restaurant as a whole would care if they were short on tables, but they are not.

9:24 pm 16 Feb 2001

We're still watching Aussie Rules Football on the tele now, still at Hard Rock Cafe. Wende has just returned with towels from Target.

1:26 am Saturday 17 February 2001

Bryn and I have been up talk talk talk talk talkin' looking at her pictures from exchange student stuff and talking about YRUU and looking at the Houston Rally mugbook.

Going to bed now.