Missing the leaving call

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german confused

Even at a point where I understand German fairly well, and can keep up (for the most part) in conversation, it still manages to catch me out.

This has happened multiple times… I’ll be sitting, for example, with a group of people at a friend’s place, in a conversation that’s been going on a while, predominantly in German. Perhaps my brain is full of German and I’ve started to tune out. Perhaps it’s late and I’m tired…

And suddenly everyone stands up.

And I’m left sitting, looking from right to left. Wondering… what on earth is happening?

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Henry has Hiccups

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Henry has hiccups

When I was studying professional writing back in my younger days, I enrolled in an incredibly fun subject called ‘Children’s Writing’. Naturally, one of the major assignments was to produce a children’s book. As in… write one and put it in a book format, including illustrations… just like I used to do when I was 8 writing my Lucky Series.

Now, you think that writing a kid’s book is simple. And it kind of is… but it’s also kind of not. I remember spending a lot of time thinking… and not coming up with much.

And then one day I was on a bus trip from Melbourne to Sydney for band camp, and in the space of 10 minutes, I scrawled the story of Henry has Hiccups out on a piece of paper.

That became my assignment.

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You know you are in Austria not Australia when… the kiddie pool is not packed on a Saturday morning

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empty pool

When I was in Australia this year, I went to the swimming pool on a Saturday morning to do my laps. “There won’t be much space,” my friend informed me, at which I scoffed. Sure, for the hour or so after opening it can be pretty crowded, but then it’s pretty much clear sailing… or clear swimming as it were.

But she was right. The pool was PACKED. I struggled to park.

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You know you’re in Austria not Australia when… there are warnings about reducing water usage… and smoke alerts.

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Oh… wait.

No, I think I got that wrong. Cause it’s Australia where we always worry about water… and hot weather… and bushfire potential.

Austria Australia differences water

But I have seen multiple warnings recently from communities in Austria, urging people to use less water because they are running out. Our local fire brigade issued an alert on smoking and fires in forested areas, again due to the drought and fire potential.

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The Lucky Series

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kids book

In this blog I want to take you back some years. I’m going to take a stab and say we’re talking somewhere between 1987 and 1990. Back then life was pretty sweet for little Debbie. Between playing with friends, dancing, school and reading books, things were A-OK. That’s about the time I started dabbling in writing my own… books, I mean.

And what would become my most famous series (also the only one)? The Lucky Series. It all began with Lucky’s Adventure. What’s it about? Well, I’m glad you asked. It’s about a dog – a beagle-cum-labrador type – who goes on an adventure and is rewarded with… the classic kid’s wish… never-ending wishes.

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You know you’re in Austria and not Australia when… Babycino is free

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Babycino reciept

Despite not wanting to do weird hipster things like ordering Babycino for my kid… it had to happen at some point. Froth off coffee is fine, except the child does not need a caffeine hit. So eventually Sammy started requesting Milkschaum (which translates to milk foam).

I am aware of the concept of Babycinos from Australia. I am aware they cost money. So, the first time I went out with Sammy and bought him a babycino, I was interested to see what they charge in Austria.

It didn’t cost $1. It certainly didn’t cost $4 (as it has been reported in Australia). It cost nothing. Even though we didn’t order coffee (though we did order spritzers so it counts for something).

So enjoy your Babycinos, Sammy. Just not when we go back to Oz. lol.

In one picture, you know you’re in Austria and not Australia when… Someone perfectly cuts a very thin bread roll in half

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Semmel

What I might at home refer to as a ‘standard white bread roll’ is called a Semmel in Austria. There are different types/shapes depending on what state you live in. In our state, a Semmel is a round, thin roll, crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. It’s what you put ham and cheese or marmalade on for breakfast, it’s what the Leberkäse sits between in a Leberkäse Semmel, and it’s what you get to eat alongside your Wurst. It’s really standard, everyday fare – much like the humble white bread roll.

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My Classy Dance Mix

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ipod classic

I have a lot of mixes on my dinosaur iPod, known as the iPod Classic. Still in daily use, with a battery change to boot, I have spent a lot of hours burning CDs (yes, kids, that’s what we did back then) and creating playlists.

Recently I was listening to my Classy Dance mix. Cause I was home alone with toddler one afternoon and it was time to get down! So… on went Classy Dance, with its 124 songs and more than 8 hours of goodness… yeah… some of that stuff ain’t that classy!

Here’s why:

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