Harmony Day – Everyone Belongs

Today is Harmony Day across Australia.  It’s the same day, 21 March, each year when Australians celebrate their cultural diversity and share what we all have in common.   From the diversity and social cohesion program, “It's a time to reflect on where Australia has come from, recognising the traditional owners of this land.  It's also about community participation, inclusiveness and respect…”

The colour orange is worn on Harmony Day because it is a colour that inspires celebration.  Harmony Day coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which also uses the orange ribbon as its symbol of awareness of racial tolerance or cultural diversity. 

Girls Grammar is celebrating Harmony Day.  The students were invited to wear an orange accent with their uniforms such as a ribbon or hair piece.  Of course, my girls went with the bold and beautiful.  Students were also invited to bring an artefact from their cultural background to share with the class or to display in the library.  Anabella is very proud of her Russian heritage (from her father) and chose the refrigerator magnet of the Russian church. 

I am really happy the school is participating in this important day.  As a school with a high number of international students and its International Baccalaureate Program, it provides a wonderful opportunity for the children to celebrate different cultures and learn acceptance.  The celebration of events like these will have a positive impact on the children's educational experience.  It reminds me how fortunate my girls are to have this opportunity to live in another country meeting children from all over the world and learning beside them. 

Harmony: Agreement in feeling or opinion

Vegemite: A National Food Icon

"He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich",
Down Under, Men at Work

Well, I finally did it.  I tried Vegemite.  I've been in Australia nearly 7 months without trying this national food icon.  On our first trip to the grocery store (which happened to be an IGA), a jar of this black smooth-like peanut butter spread was added to the shopping cart by my husband.  He immediately tried it when we got home and had horrible heartburn for the rest of the night.  He wouldn't give up though.  He has now found the right recipe:  white toast with butter and the thinnest layer of Vegemite.  This is something he enjoys for breakfast or an afternoon snack (or tea as they say here).  And, since I was the one preparing this little indulgence, the smell of Vegemite repulsed me so bad that I could not bring myself to try it. 

But, then I was pressured to try it by my kids.  I, like most Moms, encourage their children to try new foods and say, "Well, how do you know you don't like it if you won't try it?".  And, that is where the kids got me.  I had to live by my words... BLECK!  Vegemite is NOT for me.  It is salty and otherwise taste-less, if that makes sense. I have to say, though, it smells worse than it tastes. 

One might ask: What is Vegemite? It's a black, smooth-like peanut butter paste that is made from yeast extract.  There is an interesting story behind Vegemite.  It was made accidently (go figure!).  Back in 1923, at a cheese factory in Melbourne, someone thought it might be interesting to see if the spent brewers' yeast could be used for something rather than discarded.  After mixing in some spice additives and vegetables, a "tasty" nutritious spread was produced.  Another interesting fact is that the cheese factory, then called the Fred Walker Cheese Company later became the Kraft Walker Cheese Company, which is now known as Kraft Foods.  Although, Kraft Foods is now American-owned Vegemite is still made only in Melbourne.

24 Days and counting

I thought I'd provide an update on my earlier post about my training mishap for the April half marathon.  As I wrote before, after training for more than 12 weeks for a half marathon I encountered an all too familiar injury caused by a tight IT band.  This has caused great disruption to my training routine.  I haven't run longer than 10 kilometers in over 4 weeks.  The half marathon is 21 kilometers or 13.1 miles long.  I've had 3 sessions with the physiotherapist who assigned me exercises to strengthen my glutes and stretches for my hips and hamstrings.  I've added the elliptical trainer and resistence training to my weekly exercise program for the past four weeks.  However, I am not getting better.  In fact, when I do run the pain of the IT band sets in earlier in the run and often causes me to end the run sooner than planned.  I've also developed pain in both hips and my lower back which were not present until this time.  I was hopeful to nip this injury early so that I could make it to the start (and finish) line comfortably.  My training is behind schedule by 4 weeks.  I'm not sure I can regain enough of my endurance when I can't even run more than 6 miles without pain at this point.  I am scheduled to see the PT tomorrow morning at which point I hope to gain some further insight into what is going on with me.  Needless to say, I am feeling quite frustrated by this situation.  On a positive note, I am enjoying my time at the gym.  The resistence training is helping me to feel stronger in my daily activities as well as when I run.

Canberra Day



Old Parliament Building

Today is Canberra Day.  It's Monday and the girls are off from school.  We got up at 5 AM to head down to  Lake Burley Griffin to watch the balloon festival.  It was a beautiful, but cloudy morning.  My chillies were quite excited to be out that early in the morning when it was still dark.  On the way down to the lake they reminisced about two other times they were up before the sun.  Both times were to catch early morning flights.  The first time was in November 2009 when we went to Disney World and the second time was this past September when we left for Australia.

The balloons were setting up in front of the Old Parliament Building.  There were a number of food tents serving breakfast so we decided to support the local Lions Club.  While the girls were enjoying their breakie their best buddy, Michael and his Mom showed up.  That's all it took to get the girls to perk up!

Unfortunately, the morning was quite calm with little to no winds so the balloons did not take flight.  Only a handful of them even bothered to "blow up" (obviously, I have no idea what the proper terminology is for when they inflate).  Regardless, we had a nice time and got some pretty pictures.

7 Weeks until the Half Marathon

As some of you know, I have signed up for the Canberra Half Marathon which is April 10th.  I've been training for 7 weeks and am at my midpoint.  Today I got up early this morning feeling a bit reluctant about the long run I needed to accomplish. I knew I needed to increase my time by 10 minutes, but after the week I had I wasn't feeling so confident. Last Saturday, I participated in my first Dragon Boat Regatta.  It was a lot of fun, but I used parts of my body that just don't get used!  I have been exhausted all week.  My runs this week have been quite "light" and easy because I haven't had a lot of energy.  As I was getting ready to head out this morning, procrastinating, my daughter woke up and said to me, "break a leg, Mom".  Well, seeing her was just the incentive I needed to get out the door.  I set out at a slow, steady pace. The day before I drove my loop to confirm it was 13km, so I just needed to add the loop around the ponds out front of my house to reach 16km. I love running through Gungahlin while the shops are getting ready to open and just a few people are out getting coffee, walking, cycling, or running. Its a peaceful scene. As I reached the center of town (about 4 km in) I knew I was going to reach my goal. I felt like I was floating over the road. My legs were strong, my breathing and pace steady. Then, it happened. As I was running my last 10 minutes my ole familiar knee pain came back. This injury has been the reason I have not yet completed either a half or full marathon (after several attempts).  My first attempt was back in 2000, I believe.  I finished the training (running 22 miles before tapering) although my knees were a problem for me for most of the long runs.  I showed up on race day hoping to make it through.  I couldn't even make it 3 miles.  It was very disappointing. Today, I thought about pushing through the pain, but decided that maybe if I take care of myself, and not push through it like I did every other time I might have a chance of reaching my goal. So, I finished my run happy with the results and hopeful that I can find some way to take care of the pain before it becomes a real problem for me. Any suggestions on healing knee pain?

Dragon Boat Regatta, February 2011

Team USAwesome! Saturday was my first dragon boat regatta participating on the corporate team for the US Embassy.  It was so much fun!  When I came to Australia I was excited to see new things and try new things.  It was an early morning, overcast and cool, and the lake was relatively calm. Paddling in the boat was such a rush.  Hearing the beat of the drum keeping time with our strokes and the cheers of my daughters from the side of the shore was enough to get me to power through it. With only one or two practices together I think we did quite well.  I look forward to the October regatta.  In the picture below, you can see just a little bit of me if you look at the boat in the forefront. I am third from the front on the opposite side.

Third Times a Charm

The girls went back to school this past week.   Anabella started Year 2 with an exchange teacher from Canada.  She’s happy to be back at school with her friends and in an all-girls class.  She likes her teacher.  This term she is learning to play violin.  The first day she came home with the violin she was so proud to show me how to hold the instrument correctly.  We’ve had a weekend of “playing”.  As I said on Facebook right now it sounds more like nails down a chalk board.  I’m happy to see her enthusiasm with learning something new.  Chloe began kindergarten (preparatory as they call it at Girls Grammar), for the third time…third times a charm!  Just three days before the new school year, Chloe was accepted to Anabella’s school, Girls Grammar.  She wasn’t totally in support of our decision to send her to this school since she had started with another school last year.  My little Chloe has had quite a few changes over the past seven months.  She started kindergarten back in the states participating in 6 days before it was time for us to move halfway across the world.  Then, when we got here she was accepted to a small private Catholic school in their kindergarten program during Term 4.  Since it was the end of the year, we agreed that she would complete the full year of kindergarten in 2011.  This decision was good for all of us.  Chloe was adamantly against going to preschool or a “baby school” as she called it. And, I was happy to have her enrolled in a program for the full day.  I got the call about her acceptance into Girls Grammar when we were in Sydney.  She had been on the wait list since we found out about our move.  It’s important to me to have the girls in the same school and to be at one of the best schools Canberra has to offer.  Chloe, however, was a bit nervous with the prospect of starting another school.  When we arrived on the first day, the teacher greeted each student at the door and told them to go look for their names on the desks.  Well, Chloe did not have a desk nor was she assigned a locker.  Chloe turned to me and whispered, “I don’t have a desk I guess I don’t have to stay Mom.  Let’s go!”  Then she folded her arms across her chest.  The stinker!   She put on a brave face and got on with playing with the dolls in the room.  She’s been a very brave girl.  I am proud of her.  After three starts at kindergarten, we are finally in a place where Chloe will have some longevity (at least over the next three/four years).  I am happy to say that both girls have come home each day with smiles on their faces, and completely exhausted.



First day of school, 2011