I'm home

I'm home with family and friends, some of whom missed me and others who didn't even know I was gone.

Home- - a place that you love to be, where people are excited to see you and all is right with the world when you are there. If this is home, why can't I sleep?

The last two nights, I've tossed and turned and finally got up at exactly 3:44 am (same time both nights, weird). It's not jet lag. I haven't had that in years.

When I got home from Sydney, I got an email from Leg Shaver Guy, saying that he'd definitely like to see me again and, in the meantime, get to know each other via email. Big news, huh?

Part of my recent insomniac activities included a sleep-deprived email (kinda like drunk-dialing except not as funny).

Take one part insomnia + two parts new relationship paranoia and that equals one email that asks too many direct and possibly accusatory questions.

We have a 9-5 Mon-Fri email relationship complicated by a 17-hour time difference.

Thing is, I don't know what I want the answers to be.

You know you're in Australia when...

SYDNEY --

• your dinner menu very well might include Morton Bay Bugs, yabbies, John Dory and roasted swede! (the first three are seafood and the last is a member of the potato family).
• a burger at McDonalds might come with beetroot (beet)
• movie theatres give you the exact seat row and number
• cars drive, pedestrians pass and revolving doors all go LEFT
• tall black and flat white aren't racile profiling, they're coffee
• $1 and $2 denominations are coins and the $1 is bigger!
• baked beans, grilled tomatoes and sauteed mushrooms are normally found on a breakfast buffet

Yep, it's strange, but I'll miss it!

Aussie vocabulary words/phrases

In order to truly get a taste of my time here Down Under, I've compiled a few words and/or phrases that have actually been spoken to me in the last three weeks. Yes, they DO speak English down here (sort of):

How ya going? = How are you?
Fair dinkum = honestly
No worries = no problem
mozzies = mosquitos
cossie = swim costume
sunnies = sunglasses
my shout = my treat

Food words:
capsicum = bell pepper
rocket = salad
serviette = napkin
brekky = breakfast
biscuit (or bikky) = cookie
crisps = potato chips
chips = french fries
fillet= pronounced "fill it"

I wonder what my usual pizza place will say if I order a "funghi" pizza?

Homesick? Never heard of the word

SYDNEY- - It is with a heavy heart that I report that today is my last day in Australia. My birthday trip is about to end and no, I'm not "ready to go home" yet. Tomorrow I jump on a plane to Los Angeles and then on to Chicago where it's bitterly cold and crappy.

Fortunately, Mother Nature granted me one last day of sun (or at least SOME sun) and I took advantage and jumped on the ferry over to Manly for a bit of sunbathing. To "top off my tan," as one local put it.

The water was FRIGID, not like the bathwater I dove into in Port Douglas. Needless to say, most of my time was spent on the sand, not in the water.

As I listened to the seagulls cry, the surfers laugh and shout and the waves rush up on shore, I tried to forget that after tomorrow, I'll have to be satisfied to just IMAGINE the warm breezes as I listen to the imitation surf sounds coming from my alarm clock.

Like a child in a toy store, I don't wanna go home yet. I WANNA STAY!!!