Waltzing Matilda

This Australian Folk song is very popular down under. I like this version because it has a translation of Aussie words for those of you who are still learning! That includes me. I think I understand the song now. Took me a few times listening to it. After the terrible events with the ANZACS being killed by the Turks, another version of this song was written to remember those who had fallen. I'm a little late with this blog as ANZAC day is over. But here is some info: "On 25 April 1915, the Anzacs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) landed at a difficult and desolate spot on the Gallipoli peninsula and the Turks appeared to be ready for them, a defeat was inevitable, The Gallipoli campaign was a debacle, Military censorship prevented the true story being told but a young Australian journalist, Keith Murdoch (father of Australian newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch) smuggled the story about the scale of the Dardanelles disaster back to the Australian Prime Minister who sent it on to the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who was no friend of the British military establishment. It led directly to the dismissal of the British commander, Sir Ian Hamilton who never again was to hold a senior military position.
The British Government ordered an evacuation. By day, the ANZACs kept up their attacks with more ANZACs observed to be landing - by night the force was withdrawn, broken only by sporadic rifle and gunfire. On 20 December 1915, the Anzac retreat was complete, unnoticed by the Turks who continued to bombard the Anzacs' empty trenches. On 9 January 1916, the Turks carried out their last offensive on Gallipoli, revealing only that the entire force had withdrawn without casualty. The evacuation was the Allies most successful operation in Gallipoli.
A British Royal Commission into Gallipoli concluded that from the outset the risk of failure outweighed Its chances of success. The British had contributed 468,000 in the battle for Gallipoli with 33,512 killed. 7,636 missing and 78,000 wounded.
The ANZACs lost 8,000 men in Gallipoli and a further 18,000 were wounded. The ANZACs went on to serve with distinction in Palestine and on the western front in France.
Australia had a population of five million - 330,000 served in the war, 59,000 were killed.
New Zealand with a population of one million lost 18,000 men out of 110,000 and had 55000"

For You Sports Fans...

I just found out that I will be able to attend an AFL game when I'm in Australia. It's a West Coast Eagles home game. The West Coast Eagles were the champions in 2006! Here is a clip from the end of that game. Go Eagles! Lelle told me I had to learn the song for the game. So here you go Lelle...

Mission Saucepossible

On a Thursday afternoon, Erin and her hygiene friends took a journey to Taco Bell to enjoy a nice lunch out. Erin remembered that she had told her friend Jess she would bring her Taco Bell Sauce. So, with collaborative efforts, the hygiene girls managed to stash away some good 'ol Taco Bell flavor for the Australia trip. Here you go Jess...this one's for you.

A little knowledge...

...goes a long way...or so they say! I like to research the area I'm travelling to before I go so that I'm not completely clueless when I'm there. One of the most challenging tasks is always culture. It's hard to research culture. It's much better to experience it. Fortunately my Aussie friends', Lelle and Jess, have been able to help out a little. As you can see from the picture, I still have a lot to learn. This is my Australian phrase book. For those of you who are completely ignorant to the language, here is a mini-lesson. Australians like to shorten just about every word possible. And if they don't shorten it, then they have a different word for it. Well, I'm exaggerating a little, but here are some examples. Decide for yourself.

Arvo means afternoon. The trunk of a car is called a boot. A barbie means BBQ.

Language is not the only thing. I must conquer one of my greatest fears of Australia...Vegemite. This last summer I made the mistake of tasting Lelle's Vegemite. Vegemite is a salty, vitamin rich yeast extract which is similar to Marmite and Promite (if that helps!). Well, Lelle didn't warn me of its horrible taste...oh sorry...I mean aquired taste. I immediately ran to wash my mouth out. Anyways, I've told her I'm going to try it again. So I'll let you know how that goes.


Some of the things I'm going to do when in Australia include the following: Seeing Sydney (Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House, etc), Avondale College, while in Perth: visiting an Authentic Aussie Farm, Cohunu Wildlife Park (hold some koalas!!!), the Pinnacles, Wave Rock, Bussleton (awesome beaches), and more. I'm not sure of the exact itenaray, but I'll keep you informed.

I'm going to Australia

For those of you who don't know, I'm taking a little trip to the land Down Under for my 3 week summer break. If you want to know what's going on, this is where you can come and look! Enjoy!