Preparation

Photo: Flickr.com

In three days we'll be heading to Melbourne, Australia via L.A. on a 15+ hour evening flight! We've been running around like mad the past few weeks in preparation, and finally our checklist is dwindling. The cats have flown to Colorado (a story which I'll let DoubleOh tell you). Passports and visas taken care of. Hairs cut. Mail forwarded. Hammie adopted to a new home. We'll arrive- Australian time- on Easter morning. I don't know what to expect but everyone says it's like Portland. Well, if that's true, we might as well stay! Someone who hasn't been there mentioned it's like Texas, but I have my doubts. I do know the language will be different. My Kiwi professor tossed some sayings out during residency in Seattle last week and I had no clue what she was sayin'. Lots of words in Australian are abbreviated: "Oz" for Australia, "Barbie" for Barbeque, "Brekkie" for breakfast, "Veggo" for vegetarian. http://www.aussie-info.com/identity/language/ offers a basic list. Here are a few words describing my idea of Melbourne: trendy, stunning, laid back, expensive, multicultural. I'll let you know if they're accurate. Now, on to prepare for my final day at work...