I have to share something with you about Australia that’s driving me nuts. I’ll be fair though, it might not be an Australian thing it might just be something that goes on only at my work, I don’t know. At my work at least, there is an overuse of typing emails in CAPITALS ONLY. I would think that it’s an internationally known fact that writing in all caps is considered as if you’re shouting, which in most cases isn’t necessary. I’m all for using capital letters to emphasise a word but I hate when I receive a whole email written in caps. So unless you intend on offending the person your writing to please feel free to stop that. Anyone else in Australia picked up on this or is it just me?

Only in Australia do you find solar powered Christmas lights. That’s just so weird!! Simon didn’t find it one bit strange but I was amazed. Christmas and sun just don’t go hand in hand in my world. Christmas and snow on the other hand, that’s a different story.

The fact that the Christmas stuff is available in the stores this early is another story on “what’s wrong with the world” and not just an Australian issue.

When in Oz you have to have a footy team that you go for.  For those of you that might be indecisive I’ll pass on a photo Marie shared in the Swaussie Facebook page that might help you make up your mind.

One thing I don’t look forward to about my move are the Australian insect, in particular the spiders  (yes I know spiders are not insects). I hate spiders! Even looking at photos of them gives me goose bumps and make me feel sick. I saw my first Huntsman when we were in Australia over Christmas. Inside Simon’s parents’ house! I know they’re one of the harmless spider species but still they’re big and disgusting and if I find one of them in our house I think I might die.

But it’s not only the spiders that freak me out, it’s all insects that I’m not familiar with. They’re so many insects, different from the ones we have here in Sweden and I don’t really know if they’re dangerous or not. I remember clearly (and I think Simon does too) my encounter with a scary beetle back in 2009. I had dried my laundry outside and just took it off the clothes line and started folding it inside. On one of my jumpers I found a bug and I freaked out screaming throwing the jumper on the floor. Of course it was totally harmless but after that I dried my clothes inside. Why I’m sure this is a vivid memory for Simon too? I had him on the the phone so I screamed his ear off.

The national day of remembrance, ANZAC day, is coming up next Wednesday (April 25). The day is commemorated each year by Australia and New Zealand, originally to honour the members of the Australia/New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), troops sent to Gallipoli (Turkey) during World War I. Nowadays though, the day has become a day for commemorating all those who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations.

On ANZAC day, ceremonies are held in towns and cities across the nation to acknowledge the service of the veterans and I think the Shrine of Remembrance is the place to go to do so in Melbourne. The Shrine of Remembrance (seen in the photo above) is Victoria’s largest and most visited war memorial and it’s located near the Royal Botanic Gardens just south of the CBD.

Ode of Remembrance

The phrase above is part of British Laurence Binyon‘s poem For the Fallen, which was first published in 1914. The poem honoured the World War I British war dead of that time and the poem has, among the Commonwealth, become know as the Ode of Remembrance . The verse above is read at dawn services and other ANZAC tributes and in Australia the line Lest we forget is often added to the end of the ode, which is repeated in response by those listening.

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

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Something I’ve actually heard about but never tried is this special Aussie way of  eating Tim Tam’s. This ritual goes by many names; the Tim Tam Slam, the Tim Tam Bomb, the Tim Tam Suck and the Tim Tam Explosion but no matter what you call it, the steps are the same.

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A couple of things that Simon miss here in Sweden are sausage rolls, meat pies and pasties. I’ve made an attempt to make my own sausage rolls and they turned out alright but I’ve yet not tried making meat pies. On the Swaussie Couples Facebook page (yes, there is such a thing and it’s great). I’ve now received a tip that a place in Stockholm called Taylors & Jones sell really good sausage rolls, pies and pasties. We’ll definitely have to pay them a visit when we’re up in Stockholm in March to try them out.

Remember Sam Kekovich and his Australia Day lamb campaigns (we’ve written about them earlier – HERE)? Well, this year is no different than the last seven and with Australia Day coming up on Thursday (Jan 26) I though I’ll share this year’s campaign video. Pretty funny if you ask me.

Barbie is, for you who don’t know it, the Australian slang word for barbecue.

These questions were (allegedly) posted on an Australian Tourism website and the answers are the actual responses by the website officials, who obviously have a great sense of humour (not to mention a low tolerance threshhold for the brainless!)

Q: I have never seen it rain on TV, so how do the plants grow? (UK)
A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.

Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (USA)
A: Depends how much you’ve been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Perth to Sydney – can I follow the rail road tracks? (Sweden)
A: Sure, it’s only three thousand miles, take lots of water… Read more

Khaki is more than a colour, it’s an attitude – Khaki it!