Friday, June 18, 2010

The Kindness of Strangers

I got help from a stranger today.

I had to go to the airport, to take some people there for their flight. There were some boxes that needed to go with them, and the people being 'little people', they couldnt carry them, so I had to do it.

I parked the car as far away from the terminal as I think was possible! Not meaning to of course, a combination of nerves and not knowing the airport, but never mind.

After taking my passengers into the terminal to meet their flying partner, I went back to the car to get the boxes.

The boxes were.......awkward......and sort of heavy, but not too bad. However as it was a loooong walk, a few people saw me struggling........

At first, I was hesitant to take any help....the first lady was walking the opposite direction to me so it was silly to take her help........... But further along a young man asked if I was ok, and where I was walking to, and offered to help. I felt awkward, but the boxes were getting heavy, and he looked capable, and his girlfriend seemed happy enough for him to help!

And I would have felt bad and silly not to accept. So I did.

Oh the kindness of strangers! These people were lovely and I chatted to them as we headed upstairs to the terminal. They walked all the way up to the opposite end of the terminal to where they needed to go and when I thanked them profusely, they smiled a lot and said 'no worries!'

I think the whole experience was a good one for both sides. I got some help (and I struggled with the box I had anyway, which was the heavier one), and the young man got to feel good about helping someone out for no reason except he was there.

I love when people do that. And I like to think I would do the same for others.

I just wanted to share that. It was a nice thing that happened to me today :-)

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Spiders - Things my Englishman has taught me #2

In England, spiders can't kill you.

In Australia, spiders are more likely to kill you than not. Or at least make you really sick if they bite you. Or really, really hurt.

AND they're a lot bigger here. And hairier. And you find them in your house, not just in the garden.

My Englishman was in the kitchen cooking this evening when I suddenly heard a yell (we won't call it a scream because, to be fair, it wasn't) and then a voice saying "You barstard!! You little barstard!!" and a little laugh, I'm assuming because he was in shock.

There was a spider in the crockery cupboard!

Now I have no idea what type of spider it was - too small and thin to be a huntsman, not dark enough or short/squat enough for a redback or anything like that, and no white tail.....just a really average looking, brown, thin, long legged spider.

My Englishman says "Well what do I do with it?" I suggest, as its sitting in a small bowl, to get a piece of paper and put that over the top, to try and trap it. NO no, Englishman wants to open the window, then pick up the bowl and throw it out.....I tell him that won't work, and when he goes to pick up the bowl, of course, the spider runs away.

Still in the cupboard mind you.

Next, he tries 'getting' it with his knife. I think he got a couple of legs, and then couldnt get at it.
"Ahhh, itll die now,....right?"

"Um, no, spiders dont die when they lose a few legs. You need to kill it love, you can't just leave it in there."

At this point, my Englishman's answer is to close the door of the cupboard and pretend its not there.
Until he opens the door 5 minutes later and screams - "ARRGGHH! "

The spider is still there, and its moved.

Cupboard door gets closed again.

You'll notice that in all this, all I've done is told him what to do. That's because I'm not a fan of spiders either. I probably would have had a go if I was on my own, I certainly wouldnt have left the spider in the cupboard like that, but I'm tired and cold and not planning on getting in the cupboard for a day or two. So I dont really care.

So my lesson for today? I might need to deal with the spiders myself if I want them gone in the future.

And, Englishmen are not used to spiders.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

World Cup Fever

So, the Soccer World Cup starts soon...or has it already started??

Last World Cup (4 or 5 years ago?) I discovered a love of watching soccer (or football as my Englishman calls it- thats a whole other blog though) or at least, watching Australia's Socceroos play soccer in the World Cup. On a whim, when Aus was going well, myself and a few friends decided to get up early and watch the next Aussie game.......how exciting!

We decided to do so at our friend Brooke's house, as her other half was in Germany where the World Cup was being played. Someone picked up Macca's coffees, the rest of us brought chocolate, sugar and loads of enthusiasm and the 4 or 5 of us sat around in Brooke's living room, yelling at the tv and slowly learning the players names and the rules of the game.

By the end of the first game we watched, we had a pretty good understanding and had some favourite players already - mine was number 6, little Timmy Cahill, second favourite being Lucas Neill. When Australia won, our enthusiasm only became more and we planned our next early morning World Cup party with excitement and anticipation.....

The next game we watched (and I've had to check with my englishman to find out this as I cant remember) was the game against Italy.......for those who watched last time, and even those who didn't but watched any news to do with the Socceroos, the game against Italy was nailbiting and had a horrid, unfair-feeling ending. Poor Lucas Neill, penalised for something he didnt do! Horrible Italian players faking injuries and just a general feeling of injustice. Australia were the underdogs, the underdogs should win shouldnt they? And this time we even deserve it! Maybe?......

Either way, getting together with my girly girlfriends who know nothing about soccer and watching those 2 games taught me a lot about the game - not just the rules but the way it is played - the psychology behind it, the strategy and the unfairness of calls the refs can make.

This year, I'm looking forward to having my Englishman around to explain the intricacies of the politics, give me information about the other teams, and spur my passion for my country and watching sport enough to make me get up at 4am to watch Australia games, and even heading into the city in the middle of winter to watch gameswith a whole heap of other crazy football fans.

In return, I spose I'll have to watch a few England matches as well ;-)

I've got my Socceroos scarf and I'm ready to cheer my team on!!! AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!