This book is a great idea for someone who does not have a great deal of time to look after his fitness.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Imigrants trying to Please Everyone
Generally, when I move to a new place, I find myself, trying to please everybody...It is a good way to find out where you fit in, in the first few months.
Soon enough, you will find yourself in many different groups, meeting many different people.
This is a great way to get to know your own place in society.
Sometimes, I find myself running out of energy very quickly when I do this, because inevitably I will have more to do than there are hours in a day.
Then, after a few months, I sit back and reassess the process.
I realise who I like, who likes me, what I enjoy doing and where my energy is best spent.
This is my message for today:
make sure that you make enough connections in order to see what and who works for you and then step back, look again, and decide what you want to focus on.
When you have a career path it is a little more difficult to do this as you need to get ahead in life and therefore sometimes overspend your energy at work, creating a situation where no energy is left for you and the family.
This is called bad time management... or maybe is it bad soul management.
Trying to impress everyone at work because you get more rewards for it, financially and also because there are like minded people around you, can change your personality for the family at home.
You might be very outgoing at work and then turn into a quiet uncommunicative person at home. Not because that is is who you want to be, but because that is what happens if you try to keep everyone happy at work.
Spending more time at home, doesn't make the problem go away, you have to spend some quality time at home, doing fun things, like playing games, going to the movies or going for a bike ride. Do something new every now and then, to make life at the home front more exciting for everyone.
Invite friends over for a BBQ or something relaxing.
Take time to enjoy your life, not worrying about the next step you have to take to stay alive.
That might be your key to success.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
All things are for the best they say...
Yesterday was a great day for my brother and his new wife... Yes there was a wedding at home and I wasn't there.
I think these are the things that we all miss most.
Friends of ours have twins and they describe the experience as 10 times worse than they could ever have imagined it to be. That is referring to the first 2 years only I am sure...Those two girls are so cute, I cannot imagine them being difficult to handle.
Living in a country that is just too far away to pop over for a quick visit whenever you feel like it, is also many times worse than you anticipated.
We all know that you can live 2 blocks away from someone and not see them for years. At that point you can say you should visit more often, and not do it anyway, but if you are so many miles away, it is a little more difficult to deal with.
To make up for that, we received an invitation to go to the Afrikaans speaking church today as their minister was away on leave and they organised someone from Sydney to come and give a message.
This was a gift in its own right, as this man and his wife, formerly from Rhodesia and later from South Africa had many experiences to share. The main theme of his message was that we should stop waiting for the church to do the work and start spreading the message of salvation ourselves.
He spoke about the 50 year old man who would say that he is not going to church because the minister had not made his appearance to invite him in the last few months.... well I did not know that these people still exist, but I can remember those conversations as a child.
Urging us all to grow up and stand up for Christ and spread the message as we go out in the world.
He mentioned something that I always accused people of in South Africa... stop saying you cannot talk and you don't know enough or that you have another qualification and you are not a minister... Pray when someone needs a prayer; speak when you see someone who looks lost. We did not go to all the trouble to leave our beloved country just to leave our beliefs behind as well. We actually have a mission even if we did not think so when we left South Africa.
This has always been my point of view and it helps me to keep going as it gives me a better perspective on life in general. The point that he did not make though, which I would like to add is that people who stay in South Africa also do that because they have a mission of their own.
Stop wishing that you were somewhere else and stop saying stupid things like..." yeah well you earn dollars and we have to cope with Rands" just deal with it or make a plan...
We all live our lives where we live it, because we think that is where we should be and if this is not the case, maybe we should reposition ourselves.
What are we doing and who are we doing it for? What is the value that you are gaining from the situation you are in? How is it working for you? Stop saying "yes but".... and move on with your own life and your own mission as long as you know it is in line with what God has told you to do.
Yes there are some of us who don't understand the "what God has told you" bit, but if you doubt about what you next step should be: write all the information on a piece of paper, make a list of the pros and cons, and the buts; make a choice and I promise you if you make the wrong one, God will know how to get you back on the track that He wants you to be on, no matter how long it takes.
All the experiences along the way will make up an essential part of what you need to know for you journey and your future so just get going.
You know just as well as I know that you cannot move forward if you are standing still.
Experiencing everyone’s reactions to our leaving South Africa to immigrate to Australia was very interesting. Some were grieving, some were really disappointed and others were angry. All these emotions were normal, but the reaction of some who would warn us that we are not doing our Christian duty and that we will come to a fall, those friends did not understand why we were leaving South Africa.
Even now, 5 years later, we still have some telling us, we should have stayed in South Africa; we could have made a difference. Well, you know what, we did make a difference and it was for the better.
We would have loved to have our country and live in it, but our message was to leave.
Losing contact with friends is always part of leaving and moving to a new place, but it is still strange that some friends (the ones who were disappointed and angry) just never communicated with us again. When we did go home to visit everyone, they were still in that angry place, telling us how wrong it is to leave. Actually there words were, "so does this mean you are back then...?" If the answer is "no", then they are disappointed because we haven’t seen the light yet...well, maybe they are right, maybe not. Maybe they were the ones who had to see “the Light”… who knows.
The experience of making new friends, meeting South Africans in Australia is somehow the same as going to a new school. You meet people with similar experiences in leaving South Africa and building new friendships in a new place. Great people and obviously some not so great people, but we all have something in common, we all have to start over again whether we like it or not.
It all comes down to attitude, doesn’t it?
Some enjoy the new lifestyle, and other are just as annoyed with all the new rules they have to learn as they were with the rules everyone broke at home. Some find jobs very easily and others lose their new jobs even before they land.
But one thing is for sure, if you are a believer, you have a mission and if you are not a grown up in the faith, you have to learn to grow up very fast. There is a great deal of work to do in this country. There are amazing Christians with great faith and great knowledge in this country, but not enough to show the way to the nonbelievers.
The question is, are we up for the job?
I think these are the things that we all miss most.
Friends of ours have twins and they describe the experience as 10 times worse than they could ever have imagined it to be. That is referring to the first 2 years only I am sure...Those two girls are so cute, I cannot imagine them being difficult to handle.
Living in a country that is just too far away to pop over for a quick visit whenever you feel like it, is also many times worse than you anticipated.
We all know that you can live 2 blocks away from someone and not see them for years. At that point you can say you should visit more often, and not do it anyway, but if you are so many miles away, it is a little more difficult to deal with.
To make up for that, we received an invitation to go to the Afrikaans speaking church today as their minister was away on leave and they organised someone from Sydney to come and give a message.
This was a gift in its own right, as this man and his wife, formerly from Rhodesia and later from South Africa had many experiences to share. The main theme of his message was that we should stop waiting for the church to do the work and start spreading the message of salvation ourselves.
He spoke about the 50 year old man who would say that he is not going to church because the minister had not made his appearance to invite him in the last few months.... well I did not know that these people still exist, but I can remember those conversations as a child.
Urging us all to grow up and stand up for Christ and spread the message as we go out in the world.
He mentioned something that I always accused people of in South Africa... stop saying you cannot talk and you don't know enough or that you have another qualification and you are not a minister... Pray when someone needs a prayer; speak when you see someone who looks lost. We did not go to all the trouble to leave our beloved country just to leave our beliefs behind as well. We actually have a mission even if we did not think so when we left South Africa.
This has always been my point of view and it helps me to keep going as it gives me a better perspective on life in general. The point that he did not make though, which I would like to add is that people who stay in South Africa also do that because they have a mission of their own.
Stop wishing that you were somewhere else and stop saying stupid things like..." yeah well you earn dollars and we have to cope with Rands" just deal with it or make a plan...
We all live our lives where we live it, because we think that is where we should be and if this is not the case, maybe we should reposition ourselves.
What are we doing and who are we doing it for? What is the value that you are gaining from the situation you are in? How is it working for you? Stop saying "yes but".... and move on with your own life and your own mission as long as you know it is in line with what God has told you to do.
Yes there are some of us who don't understand the "what God has told you" bit, but if you doubt about what you next step should be: write all the information on a piece of paper, make a list of the pros and cons, and the buts; make a choice and I promise you if you make the wrong one, God will know how to get you back on the track that He wants you to be on, no matter how long it takes.
All the experiences along the way will make up an essential part of what you need to know for you journey and your future so just get going.
You know just as well as I know that you cannot move forward if you are standing still.
Experiencing everyone’s reactions to our leaving South Africa to immigrate to Australia was very interesting. Some were grieving, some were really disappointed and others were angry. All these emotions were normal, but the reaction of some who would warn us that we are not doing our Christian duty and that we will come to a fall, those friends did not understand why we were leaving South Africa.
Even now, 5 years later, we still have some telling us, we should have stayed in South Africa; we could have made a difference. Well, you know what, we did make a difference and it was for the better.
We would have loved to have our country and live in it, but our message was to leave.
Losing contact with friends is always part of leaving and moving to a new place, but it is still strange that some friends (the ones who were disappointed and angry) just never communicated with us again. When we did go home to visit everyone, they were still in that angry place, telling us how wrong it is to leave. Actually there words were, "so does this mean you are back then...?" If the answer is "no", then they are disappointed because we haven’t seen the light yet...well, maybe they are right, maybe not. Maybe they were the ones who had to see “the Light”… who knows.
The experience of making new friends, meeting South Africans in Australia is somehow the same as going to a new school. You meet people with similar experiences in leaving South Africa and building new friendships in a new place. Great people and obviously some not so great people, but we all have something in common, we all have to start over again whether we like it or not.
It all comes down to attitude, doesn’t it?
Some enjoy the new lifestyle, and other are just as annoyed with all the new rules they have to learn as they were with the rules everyone broke at home. Some find jobs very easily and others lose their new jobs even before they land.
But one thing is for sure, if you are a believer, you have a mission and if you are not a grown up in the faith, you have to learn to grow up very fast. There is a great deal of work to do in this country. There are amazing Christians with great faith and great knowledge in this country, but not enough to show the way to the nonbelievers.
The question is, are we up for the job?
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
And then there was my Personal Training Centre
When I move to a new place and the kids are settled and hubby is going well. The cars and the house all seems figured out, I join a gym.
In this case, I joined the 123express and met wonderful people there who had few enough clients to give the clients they did have enough energy and attention.
As time went by they also became clients of mine in my kinesiology practise and I went to Casey's for facials and massages.
It was a great friendship and we really enjoyed each other's company, but then the couple had a few rocky moments and split up. Their business was not the same anymore and after one of my trips back to South Africa, I realised, they sold the business to someone else.
Well, that was sad, but a few months later, hubby went to the shops close by and found a pamphlet for the first month free at a new gym that opened in the area. He never falls for these things, but this time he said I should go and try it out.
That worked out to be the most expensive month, and gym membership in my life.
Shortly after joining Jo's Personal Fitness Centre, and enjoying it, I might add, he became ill (that is Jo). He needed someone to take over the business and seeing that I had "nothing" to do at the time, I fell for the Personal Fitness idea. I could add my kinesiology and my nutrition expertise and do some counselling at the same time....
The gym was just too small to really work and there were no windows to the outside, but hey, the business was going well and the people I meat there were all great! Jo had trained up a few of his clients to a Cert III and Cert IV level in Personal Fitness and it looked as if I could even have a partnership with one or two of them.
Everything planned did not turn out as it should have, without me knowing anything, Joe told the other two girls that they should not stay and should open their own places within a 1km radius from my premises.
Joe had two other gym about 8-10kms from this one and these two had to close because he moved upstate.
Again he had an idea that I would let his clients work out their credit with him in my Fitness Centre so that he wouldn't have to refund them. He also had one trainer at the one premises, who wanted to work with me, or for me, as he owed her time and money.
At the time I didn't think much of the situation as it obviously filled my Fitness Centre up and it felt good. Within a month of him leaving, I realised what was really happening. The trainer he had left to "help" me, basically took all the clients with her that had come over from the other centre and in retrospect, they were her clients too. They trained with her before and there is always loyalty in such a situation. So, when their credit was used up, they left. With them, some of my client left as the gym was plainly too full for everyone.
This was around the time of the year when daylight savings kicks in and that is normally when people leave the fitness centres to "train outside". They never do the training, but they save money until next winter anyway.
This was okay, I still had money to do some advertising and all was well. Except for the fact that the economy was going into a steep decline and the world was tumbling for everyone around me. Instead of going for fitness goals and motivating people to get fitter and thinner, it was more of a battle to get them to keep paying. I fully understood why it was too hard for them to pay the membership and I would have loved to change the fees to something ridiculously cheap, but the landlord set a steep rate and I had to keep paying the rent.
Keeping that ship afloat was a great learning experience and I really had so many quality clients that became quality friends that I cannot complain.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going!
Now the one thing I could not do myself, was to get up at 5 or 6 am and work the whole day until 7 or 8 pm, so I had Marnie, Su, Lachlan, Wanda, Bridie, and Cameron doing their bit.
Su and Lachlan kept going for the whole time and Cameron did his Cert IV as one of our clients and later worked with some of my and his clients in the gym. He is really good with a one on one situation where the client really needs the attention and understanding that he can give them.
They are all great people, friends and trainers in their own right.
Without Su, I might have given up, a lot sooner, but she is such an inspiration! Always up early, always working as hard as she can, giving leadership in the morning to Lachlan when needed and always dependable. A great person but even a greater athlete.
What I have learnt in the Fitness environment is that everyone has a big goal to reach, but sometimes the goal to get through the door is just as big as the goal to run 100km in the Blue Mountains.
As a trainer it is often good to push the clients limits, but never forget that they really are in the gym to make their life's purpose a little easier to reach.
That is why I enjoy working with clients in a small environment giving them the time and motivation they need, not only to get through the session, but to realise the benefits of training in their lives.
The tears in the our little gym was never about the program or exercises, it was because of life the universe and everything else.
It was very interesting to realise how many clients came to that little centre because the commercial centres were too impersonal and even though mine was not inexpensive, everyone knew they would get the attention they needed.
Everyone needed rehabilitation, whether it was a little or a lot, there was always something that needed fixing.
We kept going for two years and for the last yeast hubby had to work everywhere but at home, so it was sometimes lonely for us, but we managed.
Having the time of my life with all my wonderful clients and the great people who helped me run the business for two years, made it extremely hard to leave. I will do it again in a flash!
I am now writing about all my experiences in my new country and one of the books I am writing will be published soon on www.diabetesexercisesonline.com . I invite you to join my blog on that website as well and if you leave your comment and information, you can get the ebook 50% off.
In this case, I joined the 123express and met wonderful people there who had few enough clients to give the clients they did have enough energy and attention.
As time went by they also became clients of mine in my kinesiology practise and I went to Casey's for facials and massages.
It was a great friendship and we really enjoyed each other's company, but then the couple had a few rocky moments and split up. Their business was not the same anymore and after one of my trips back to South Africa, I realised, they sold the business to someone else.
Well, that was sad, but a few months later, hubby went to the shops close by and found a pamphlet for the first month free at a new gym that opened in the area. He never falls for these things, but this time he said I should go and try it out.
That worked out to be the most expensive month, and gym membership in my life.
Shortly after joining Jo's Personal Fitness Centre, and enjoying it, I might add, he became ill (that is Jo). He needed someone to take over the business and seeing that I had "nothing" to do at the time, I fell for the Personal Fitness idea. I could add my kinesiology and my nutrition expertise and do some counselling at the same time....
The gym was just too small to really work and there were no windows to the outside, but hey, the business was going well and the people I meat there were all great! Jo had trained up a few of his clients to a Cert III and Cert IV level in Personal Fitness and it looked as if I could even have a partnership with one or two of them.
Everything planned did not turn out as it should have, without me knowing anything, Joe told the other two girls that they should not stay and should open their own places within a 1km radius from my premises.
Joe had two other gym about 8-10kms from this one and these two had to close because he moved upstate.
Again he had an idea that I would let his clients work out their credit with him in my Fitness Centre so that he wouldn't have to refund them. He also had one trainer at the one premises, who wanted to work with me, or for me, as he owed her time and money.
At the time I didn't think much of the situation as it obviously filled my Fitness Centre up and it felt good. Within a month of him leaving, I realised what was really happening. The trainer he had left to "help" me, basically took all the clients with her that had come over from the other centre and in retrospect, they were her clients too. They trained with her before and there is always loyalty in such a situation. So, when their credit was used up, they left. With them, some of my client left as the gym was plainly too full for everyone.
This was around the time of the year when daylight savings kicks in and that is normally when people leave the fitness centres to "train outside". They never do the training, but they save money until next winter anyway.
This was okay, I still had money to do some advertising and all was well. Except for the fact that the economy was going into a steep decline and the world was tumbling for everyone around me. Instead of going for fitness goals and motivating people to get fitter and thinner, it was more of a battle to get them to keep paying. I fully understood why it was too hard for them to pay the membership and I would have loved to change the fees to something ridiculously cheap, but the landlord set a steep rate and I had to keep paying the rent.
Keeping that ship afloat was a great learning experience and I really had so many quality clients that became quality friends that I cannot complain.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going!
Now the one thing I could not do myself, was to get up at 5 or 6 am and work the whole day until 7 or 8 pm, so I had Marnie, Su, Lachlan, Wanda, Bridie, and Cameron doing their bit.
Su and Lachlan kept going for the whole time and Cameron did his Cert IV as one of our clients and later worked with some of my and his clients in the gym. He is really good with a one on one situation where the client really needs the attention and understanding that he can give them.
They are all great people, friends and trainers in their own right.
Without Su, I might have given up, a lot sooner, but she is such an inspiration! Always up early, always working as hard as she can, giving leadership in the morning to Lachlan when needed and always dependable. A great person but even a greater athlete.
What I have learnt in the Fitness environment is that everyone has a big goal to reach, but sometimes the goal to get through the door is just as big as the goal to run 100km in the Blue Mountains.
As a trainer it is often good to push the clients limits, but never forget that they really are in the gym to make their life's purpose a little easier to reach.
That is why I enjoy working with clients in a small environment giving them the time and motivation they need, not only to get through the session, but to realise the benefits of training in their lives.
The tears in the our little gym was never about the program or exercises, it was because of life the universe and everything else.
It was very interesting to realise how many clients came to that little centre because the commercial centres were too impersonal and even though mine was not inexpensive, everyone knew they would get the attention they needed.
Everyone needed rehabilitation, whether it was a little or a lot, there was always something that needed fixing.
We kept going for two years and for the last yeast hubby had to work everywhere but at home, so it was sometimes lonely for us, but we managed.
Having the time of my life with all my wonderful clients and the great people who helped me run the business for two years, made it extremely hard to leave. I will do it again in a flash!
I am now writing about all my experiences in my new country and one of the books I am writing will be published soon on www.diabetesexercisesonline.com . I invite you to join my blog on that website as well and if you leave your comment and information, you can get the ebook 50% off.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Knowledge is knowing the next step.
Knowledge is knowing the next step.
Today I am working on attitude!
Since my business had to close and I had to move to the gold coast, I have had a great deal of time to myself. I had time to get over the grief of letting a part of me go and leaving so many good friends behind again. Luckily I was given the time to move on.
This is something I had to do many times in my life. My husband's career has moved us around so many times that I stopped counting. The biggest lesson I have learnt about attitude is that you should not take what other people do personally. A little bit of a survival skill I suppose.
When you leave a place or a family for what ever reason, things and life do not come to a standstill for them or for you. Everyone has to move on and find the next step.
This was of course all triggered by the word of wisdom on the spark page this morning.
Knowledge is knowing what to do next.
Every time I move from one place to another, God teaches me new skills. Some are for coping and other for living joyfully. Always having the children around me to keep me busy and engaged in the community made it so much easier to cope and move on. The last time we moved, I had one child still in school and thought she would still help me get into things. But she was a teenager at the time and did not want or need me at school so I had to lean to find my own friends.
That is when I started my fitness business and enjoyed every moment of it.
Letting that go, was quite an experience, as my clients were like my friends and family seeing that we don't have any family around Aus.
By being alone, and getting more and more into the internet life style, I am becoming a bit of a loner, but not an "aloner". I feel a lot more positive about life than I ever did before when I had to be alone with the kids etc.
The internet is often portrayed as a menace, but if you keep yourself busy with positive topics, it is a great friend.
So the skill I have learnt this time ( and its a steep learning curve) is to create a community on the internet.
And creating a passion for the ideas people want to communicate to the world.
now I have to get to "doing it" and setting my own ideas out there in a positive light.
I choose to be joyful and even though my weight is not where it is supposed to be and I sometimes don't put the food on my nutrition calendar and my exercises in the exercise thing, I feel positive an I keep going.
Today I am working on attitude!
Since my business had to close and I had to move to the gold coast, I have had a great deal of time to myself. I had time to get over the grief of letting a part of me go and leaving so many good friends behind again. Luckily I was given the time to move on.
This is something I had to do many times in my life. My husband's career has moved us around so many times that I stopped counting. The biggest lesson I have learnt about attitude is that you should not take what other people do personally. A little bit of a survival skill I suppose.
When you leave a place or a family for what ever reason, things and life do not come to a standstill for them or for you. Everyone has to move on and find the next step.
This was of course all triggered by the word of wisdom on the spark page this morning.
Knowledge is knowing what to do next.
Every time I move from one place to another, God teaches me new skills. Some are for coping and other for living joyfully. Always having the children around me to keep me busy and engaged in the community made it so much easier to cope and move on. The last time we moved, I had one child still in school and thought she would still help me get into things. But she was a teenager at the time and did not want or need me at school so I had to lean to find my own friends.
That is when I started my fitness business and enjoyed every moment of it.
Letting that go, was quite an experience, as my clients were like my friends and family seeing that we don't have any family around Aus.
By being alone, and getting more and more into the internet life style, I am becoming a bit of a loner, but not an "aloner". I feel a lot more positive about life than I ever did before when I had to be alone with the kids etc.
The internet is often portrayed as a menace, but if you keep yourself busy with positive topics, it is a great friend.
So the skill I have learnt this time ( and its a steep learning curve) is to create a community on the internet.
And creating a passion for the ideas people want to communicate to the world.
now I have to get to "doing it" and setting my own ideas out there in a positive light.
I choose to be joyful and even though my weight is not where it is supposed to be and I sometimes don't put the food on my nutrition calendar and my exercises in the exercise thing, I feel positive an I keep going.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Talita thought Melbourne would be a better place to live
We arrived in Newcastle and Talita researched immediately and decided that Newcastle is not on the map enough to study the music degree that she studying at the time.
Talita is my organised daughter, who does not wait for other to sort out her life. Well in the meantime, all of them grew up and they are amazingly self sufficient, compared to me who felt very vulnerable at that age.So, Melbourne was the city to be in and Melbourne University the best educational institution. Harald went down with Talita and moved her into the College about a kilometre from the Uni.
Talita quickly learnt all the ins and outs of traveling by tram and train. Figuring everything out about Uni and life in Melbourne.
She was a very active student who helped with the musicals and organised the balls. She did not have a lot of time to come home and spend with us, there was always more to do and places to go. I planned to go down to Melbourne, but never realised how Harald's work at BHP would limit my mobility. Lydia was the active hockey and tennis player and needed to be taken to all the practise and competitions.
Nici was not alowed to drive at the time, so she could not cart Lydia around. Hey, this is no complaint, because I love being there when the kids play sports and do things, but I just really experienced the feeling you get when you have a few very little children around and they need you all the time for different things. "Any mother with only two hands, is handicapped". I would have loved to be "mutant mom" at that point in time. It would have been so much easier to be able to go to Talita and help her when she was ill, or find a good doctor for her when she needed it, or just go shopping like girls do.
Life had to be a little hard I suppose.... you know there is no initiation for change as good as the feeling of not having it all. It is that discomfort that brought us to this country in the first place. Knowing that you can give your children something that they have never experienced. The freedom of being able to go on a train or a tram or walking with friends after dark.
Everytime I see Talita, I think, where do you get that from? She is one of those people who walks into a room and adds energy to the atmosphere.
Then there is life always making things harder for her than anyone else, or maybe she does this all on her own... who knows. Moving away from everyone, to a new city she hasn't seen, studying a very demanding course, becoming really sick and dealing with it all, coming out on the other side, stronger and more resilient than before.
As I have the story, there was a particular Sunday, on the way to church, where she realised that Adam was going in the same direction....I am hoping, you could give me a little more information on this if you read it Talita..... long story short, they are now married and yes she had to organise it all herself!
Talita and Adam make a very handsome couple.
This was the first time that some of our family could join us as it is very expensive to come over to the other side of the world if you have a currency like the Rand. Seven times weaker than the AusDollar.
Adam is the first addition to our new family in Australia, connecting us with the Aussies in a much more special way than even becoming citizens. Adding brothers (Adam and Carl) to the sisters (Talita Nicola and Lydia) and a mother (Helen) and father (Russel) with their family.
I love the way the photos make us all look so very slim! don't you?
Talita is my organised daughter, who does not wait for other to sort out her life. Well in the meantime, all of them grew up and they are amazingly self sufficient, compared to me who felt very vulnerable at that age.So, Melbourne was the city to be in and Melbourne University the best educational institution. Harald went down with Talita and moved her into the College about a kilometre from the Uni.
Talita quickly learnt all the ins and outs of traveling by tram and train. Figuring everything out about Uni and life in Melbourne.
She was a very active student who helped with the musicals and organised the balls. She did not have a lot of time to come home and spend with us, there was always more to do and places to go. I planned to go down to Melbourne, but never realised how Harald's work at BHP would limit my mobility. Lydia was the active hockey and tennis player and needed to be taken to all the practise and competitions.
Nici was not alowed to drive at the time, so she could not cart Lydia around. Hey, this is no complaint, because I love being there when the kids play sports and do things, but I just really experienced the feeling you get when you have a few very little children around and they need you all the time for different things. "Any mother with only two hands, is handicapped". I would have loved to be "mutant mom" at that point in time. It would have been so much easier to be able to go to Talita and help her when she was ill, or find a good doctor for her when she needed it, or just go shopping like girls do.
Life had to be a little hard I suppose.... you know there is no initiation for change as good as the feeling of not having it all. It is that discomfort that brought us to this country in the first place. Knowing that you can give your children something that they have never experienced. The freedom of being able to go on a train or a tram or walking with friends after dark.
Everytime I see Talita, I think, where do you get that from? She is one of those people who walks into a room and adds energy to the atmosphere.
Then there is life always making things harder for her than anyone else, or maybe she does this all on her own... who knows. Moving away from everyone, to a new city she hasn't seen, studying a very demanding course, becoming really sick and dealing with it all, coming out on the other side, stronger and more resilient than before.
As I have the story, there was a particular Sunday, on the way to church, where she realised that Adam was going in the same direction....I am hoping, you could give me a little more information on this if you read it Talita..... long story short, they are now married and yes she had to organise it all herself!
I love the way the photos make us all look so very slim! don't you?
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Guilt!
One of the most difficult things for me, to this day, is to accept that you can enjoy life without feeling guilty about the person next to you not having enough.
I grew up in a system where you have to make sure that you constantly give money to the person standing at the traffic light with his hands palm side up. Cupping it, to catch every last cent you might throw his way. Or the child with torn clothes, looking really hungry and asking for money. Then you get the ones who are drama queens, telling you a story of their life and how miserable it is to be them and could yo please hand over R300 rands or R50, depending on what they think their story is worth.
When I ride on my bike or I walk along on a beautiful pathway beside a lake or in a bush, it is really hard not to think of those poor souls and how this specific place would have looked with a few of them to hassle me. Then I look at the people who also enjoy the walk and they seem to think that this is how life is and it does not even cross their minds that it could be any different. In fact, I find, on every trip, there are some people who find something to complain about, something that should have been better. Amazing isn't it, that a vision and an experience is so connected to previous experiences. I spoke to someone about this and how grateful I feel for where I am now and how hard it is not to feel guilty. He just answered, I don't feel guilty, life owes me this. Well, I am not there yet, I really feel very privileged to be a part of such a beautiful place for as long as I may be a part of it.
I grew up in a system where you have to make sure that you constantly give money to the person standing at the traffic light with his hands palm side up. Cupping it, to catch every last cent you might throw his way. Or the child with torn clothes, looking really hungry and asking for money. Then you get the ones who are drama queens, telling you a story of their life and how miserable it is to be them and could yo please hand over R300 rands or R50, depending on what they think their story is worth.
When I ride on my bike or I walk along on a beautiful pathway beside a lake or in a bush, it is really hard not to think of those poor souls and how this specific place would have looked with a few of them to hassle me. Then I look at the people who also enjoy the walk and they seem to think that this is how life is and it does not even cross their minds that it could be any different. In fact, I find, on every trip, there are some people who find something to complain about, something that should have been better. Amazing isn't it, that a vision and an experience is so connected to previous experiences. I spoke to someone about this and how grateful I feel for where I am now and how hard it is not to feel guilty. He just answered, I don't feel guilty, life owes me this. Well, I am not there yet, I really feel very privileged to be a part of such a beautiful place for as long as I may be a part of it.
New Things
Someone asked me a few months after we arrived: So what's New? well it is now 4+ years later and I still give the same answer... Everything, all the time.
It is just amazing when you get to a new place how much there is to learn.
Initially I tried to find the things that I miss about South Africa and in the process found a few South Africans, doing the same thing. Then I reminded myself that I did not want to be here looking for the old, but to try something new.
The school system, the church, shopping, living without walls around the house and living in paper houses..everything is different.
The paper houses are still a little foreign to me. I find it difficult to live in a house where the "walls have ears" and the neighbours are so close that you know exactly what they are saying and how they feel about the footy match they are watching.
It does bring everyone closer though and it is much easier to connect with your neighbour if you know what he thinks.
Hammering a nail into the wall to hang a painting is a different story. You have to make sure that you hit one of the little wooden beams, to ensure that your precious painting will actually stay on the wall.
Attaching a shelf is an even more difficult matter. We are used to brick walls, so if you do the job properly, you can attach anything to a wall. It is not always very funny when you build a shelf and stack it with books, just to hear a loud crash when you turn your back.
The one thing that I am still struggling to get used to is Freedom. I can now walk to the shop if I want to. I can ride a bike to where ever and back. I only learnt how to ride a bike in my 45th year, because my dad did not think it is something girls should do. It was too dangerous in SA anyway. If you did not get hi jacked off your bike, some one's dog would attack you.
Running is something I never wanted to do because of the safety issue, now, I run for hours when I have the time.
Time was so much more restricted because you had to have alarm systems for everything. It really did take a lot of time to do all of those security things. Now I get in my car that has been waiting outside in the street for me since yesterday and there I go! I park my car i a shopping centre where I don't always have to pay for someone to watch over it and then hope that he wouldn't steal it whilst I am shopping.
I still need to learn how to paddle on a surf ski and Harald still needs a boat to be captain of. but we are learning new things every day. What a great experience, to start life over half way through.
It is just amazing when you get to a new place how much there is to learn.
Initially I tried to find the things that I miss about South Africa and in the process found a few South Africans, doing the same thing. Then I reminded myself that I did not want to be here looking for the old, but to try something new.
The school system, the church, shopping, living without walls around the house and living in paper houses..everything is different.
The paper houses are still a little foreign to me. I find it difficult to live in a house where the "walls have ears" and the neighbours are so close that you know exactly what they are saying and how they feel about the footy match they are watching.
It does bring everyone closer though and it is much easier to connect with your neighbour if you know what he thinks.
Hammering a nail into the wall to hang a painting is a different story. You have to make sure that you hit one of the little wooden beams, to ensure that your precious painting will actually stay on the wall.
Attaching a shelf is an even more difficult matter. We are used to brick walls, so if you do the job properly, you can attach anything to a wall. It is not always very funny when you build a shelf and stack it with books, just to hear a loud crash when you turn your back.
The one thing that I am still struggling to get used to is Freedom. I can now walk to the shop if I want to. I can ride a bike to where ever and back. I only learnt how to ride a bike in my 45th year, because my dad did not think it is something girls should do. It was too dangerous in SA anyway. If you did not get hi jacked off your bike, some one's dog would attack you.
Running is something I never wanted to do because of the safety issue, now, I run for hours when I have the time.
Time was so much more restricted because you had to have alarm systems for everything. It really did take a lot of time to do all of those security things. Now I get in my car that has been waiting outside in the street for me since yesterday and there I go! I park my car i a shopping centre where I don't always have to pay for someone to watch over it and then hope that he wouldn't steal it whilst I am shopping.
I still need to learn how to paddle on a surf ski and Harald still needs a boat to be captain of. but we are learning new things every day. What a great experience, to start life over half way through.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Little Things
When you leave an African Country, to come to a place like Australia, the little things catch your eye first. The clean cities, the roads that are mostly in good condition. The road works are constant in upgrading and even the number of signs to tell you what where and how you should drive. Signs like "wrong way go back". Its just something that you will find out as you go along in South Africa, no sign is going to let you know that you are going the wrong way...
Traffic lights have bussers to let Labradors know when to walk across the road... or is to let the blind person know when to walk, I forget. But what about the deaf person.
Not being racist at all, but it is a real difference to see a "lollipop men/ women" that is white and friendly. It is just natural that in a country where most people are "white", these things are done by white people. This might sound weird to anyone who did not grow up in a country where most people have darker skins.
In South Africa, because of the multitudes, there were people at every traffic light, selling goods, being very persistent and sometimes, scary. Here, if you need a coat hanger or a pair of sunnies, you actually have to go to a shop in a shopping centre and pay real money for it too.
Talking to anybody and everybody in line at the post shop (not a post office) or at the medicare office (something we did not even have in SA).
Everyone has to be able to speak English, so there's no need to try and figure out what language you might need to communicate. This makes life a little easier. It feels as if most people are immigrants as everyone has a different accent, but they all try to speak English. It is also easier to communicate because you don't have to think who is going to attack you or steal your purse every second of the day. You can tell people that you are new and don't know the system and they will not try to make life difficult for you.
Going through the drivers license process and getting insurance can be a little daunting, because everything is computerised and everyone is accepted to be literate. In Africa, this is not the case, literacy is a very big problem. Using pictures and trying to find a language your client understands is quite a challenge. Very often, I had to use the fingerprint system to identify someone when they wanted to draw their own money at the bank. Here, they don't even have your fingerprint on your drivers license...how good is that!
Yip, its the little things that you notice first, good things and bad things, irritating too sometimes.
Try to get some service at a coffee shop of restaurant in Aus... nobody tells you that, that service is an optional extra!. You have to stand in line to order, then take a number or worse, they might choose to scream out your name and your order so everyone in the world knows what you chose to order today.
Then you have to pay before you receive your order and if you need anything else, well you have to stand in line again. The sign on the order window of one shop finally made it clear to me: Fast service: Open tomorrow. And the other one: It is harder to pay for a sandwich after you have eaten it.
This was a very BIG THING to me and it could have made me turn back, but now, it is just another LITTLE THING. It just makes you appreciate what you did have in South Africa. After a hard day's work, it was always good to relax at some restaurant and get pampered a little. Now you still have to get up and do it yourself. Clean the table yourself, Pick up the mess that someone else made, through away the takeaway cups and thing, because you have to ask to get a real ceramic cup or plate...
Well now, I don't expect service and get o with life.
Traffic lights have bussers to let Labradors know when to walk across the road... or is to let the blind person know when to walk, I forget. But what about the deaf person.
Not being racist at all, but it is a real difference to see a "lollipop men/ women" that is white and friendly. It is just natural that in a country where most people are "white", these things are done by white people. This might sound weird to anyone who did not grow up in a country where most people have darker skins.
In South Africa, because of the multitudes, there were people at every traffic light, selling goods, being very persistent and sometimes, scary. Here, if you need a coat hanger or a pair of sunnies, you actually have to go to a shop in a shopping centre and pay real money for it too.
Talking to anybody and everybody in line at the post shop (not a post office) or at the medicare office (something we did not even have in SA).
Everyone has to be able to speak English, so there's no need to try and figure out what language you might need to communicate. This makes life a little easier. It feels as if most people are immigrants as everyone has a different accent, but they all try to speak English. It is also easier to communicate because you don't have to think who is going to attack you or steal your purse every second of the day. You can tell people that you are new and don't know the system and they will not try to make life difficult for you.
Going through the drivers license process and getting insurance can be a little daunting, because everything is computerised and everyone is accepted to be literate. In Africa, this is not the case, literacy is a very big problem. Using pictures and trying to find a language your client understands is quite a challenge. Very often, I had to use the fingerprint system to identify someone when they wanted to draw their own money at the bank. Here, they don't even have your fingerprint on your drivers license...how good is that!
Yip, its the little things that you notice first, good things and bad things, irritating too sometimes.
Try to get some service at a coffee shop of restaurant in Aus... nobody tells you that, that service is an optional extra!. You have to stand in line to order, then take a number or worse, they might choose to scream out your name and your order so everyone in the world knows what you chose to order today.
Then you have to pay before you receive your order and if you need anything else, well you have to stand in line again. The sign on the order window of one shop finally made it clear to me: Fast service: Open tomorrow. And the other one: It is harder to pay for a sandwich after you have eaten it.
This was a very BIG THING to me and it could have made me turn back, but now, it is just another LITTLE THING. It just makes you appreciate what you did have in South Africa. After a hard day's work, it was always good to relax at some restaurant and get pampered a little. Now you still have to get up and do it yourself. Clean the table yourself, Pick up the mess that someone else made, through away the takeaway cups and thing, because you have to ask to get a real ceramic cup or plate...
Well now, I don't expect service and get o with life.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
31 August 2010
Today is the date that my parents got married, 64 years ago in South Africa. If it weren't for them, we would not be here, not one of us.
Having them as examples of how to treat people and be accountable, is a great privilege.
I am the youngest of five children and the only daughter. Well that was before my brothers got married anyway, I really just got my sisters later.
My parents now have their sons and son-in-law and their daughter and daughters-in-law. 15 grandchildren and five lovely great grand children. We all still like each other and we all get together when life creates the time and the place for it.
My dad is a very prominent artist in South Africa (Dirk Meerkotter) and he sets his standards very high. You can find him on the web if you are interested http://www.meerkotter.co.za/
My mom (Annie) is a very dynamic and wise women. She keeps the family together, because the lets every do what they need to do to grow. She advises us when we ask for it and she is a passionate inspiration to everyone in the family.
These two people have made a great impression on our lives, but more than that, on the lives of so many South Africans who met them. My mom has learnt to write emails and communicates with everyone who cares to write to them. My parents have many connections across the world because of my dads art, but mainly because they are such loving and caring people.
We will always have their example, no matter where we are and we will always strive to be more like them as we live our lives in our new country.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Forever a Guest
Now this is not really only related to the arrival of the Muller family in Australia. Being married to an Engineer in general makes it part of who you become.
We have moved around in our own country more than the normal family and more than I have ever imagined I could.
My first 20 years were spent in one house, one room, one family, one church and the schools that were closest were my two schools.
Then I went to Pretoria to study and I did that because I met my husband to be while he was in the army with my brother.
I was board with living at home and it was time to move on, but I did not really know that 25 years after marrying Harald, I would still be moving around and finding new connections wherever we went?
Some of the moves were fun of course and some of the moves were really not so great., but we always seemed to make the best of it. We did it all for Harald's career and I would be the mom raising the kids. Yes that is what I wanted to do.
So at some point I realised two things that were very constant in this process of moving and changing places. Harald always had a career and a position (not just a job) and I, well I did what moms do best. I went where the kids needed me and tried to be a good example in the community and find something to do to keep me out of the shops and other mischief.
Where ever I went, I was a guest. A guest at the ballet lessons and the school and the Engineering dinners etc. I am a harpist and where ever I went to play the harp I was the guest. In the bank where I worked, I was a contractor and so, if I had to go to meetings, guess what, I was the guest. Looking pretty but just don't say anything...
In Aus, at every church we went to, we were guests, but now, I was not the only one. Harald and our daughters felt the same. No real belonging, just guests and yes, you get "special" attention at times, but hey, at some point you need to settle in. Become part of the community and part of the process.
In our case, it just doesn't seem to end. When I took over the gym and became the South African Personal Trainer, it was as if I was the guest in my own business. Maybe, because that is what I have become accustomed to. Everyone tried to tell me how to run the business and how I would be able to get more clients and what would work better, but you know, all that does is make the "new" person uncertain of what is right and wrong and it does not really help.
When we lived in Newcastle, it was really obvious to me that Harald did not connect with anyone and just went through the motions of work-home-travel-etc. It was really hard to get any indication of how he experienced the community and whether he was happy or not. Sometimes, when we went to church I felt, that he really needed more contact, but just couldn't find the time.
And so, we belonged only in one category, "Guests". After a while, the other congregation members, became "switched off" and we could not connect anymore. The time had past to get the connection and it was time to move on again.
This time, Harald had to move alone first. Do contract work and find a new job (not so much a career anymore). The economic situation in the world forced us to make decisions that we really had no power over.
Again, my status became the guest because he was not around, he was a guest in a new place and our anchor was lifted. "Waiting for call up papers".
The few that became close to me as I worked in the gym, were very concerned and thought that I cannot be happily married if I lived so far from my husband. Questions like do you still love each other and how long is he going to be away for.... was it to find some gossip in the situation or maybe to help me find a solution to something that just had to play itself out?
Then I had to release every tie I had bound in the last 4 years, because I know by now, that friends are friends for life, but that does not mean that you will ever see them again.
I am just a guest in their lives, to do a job or fulfil a function or help them grow as they help me grow. Looking back, they are just guests in my life too then.
When you realise that we are all only guests, it makes you think of other people in a different way, doesn't it. Even you children and your parents are guests in your life. Your children need you for some things when they are young and for totally different things when they are older. Some of us are blessed to have the important ones in our lives for longer and some have to find new connections. One thing is for sure, no one, nothing, is permanent and none of the people you meet can be replaced at any cost.
Treat everyone with respect!
We have moved around in our own country more than the normal family and more than I have ever imagined I could.
My first 20 years were spent in one house, one room, one family, one church and the schools that were closest were my two schools.
Then I went to Pretoria to study and I did that because I met my husband to be while he was in the army with my brother.
I was board with living at home and it was time to move on, but I did not really know that 25 years after marrying Harald, I would still be moving around and finding new connections wherever we went?
Some of the moves were fun of course and some of the moves were really not so great., but we always seemed to make the best of it. We did it all for Harald's career and I would be the mom raising the kids. Yes that is what I wanted to do.
So at some point I realised two things that were very constant in this process of moving and changing places. Harald always had a career and a position (not just a job) and I, well I did what moms do best. I went where the kids needed me and tried to be a good example in the community and find something to do to keep me out of the shops and other mischief.
Where ever I went, I was a guest. A guest at the ballet lessons and the school and the Engineering dinners etc. I am a harpist and where ever I went to play the harp I was the guest. In the bank where I worked, I was a contractor and so, if I had to go to meetings, guess what, I was the guest. Looking pretty but just don't say anything...
In Aus, at every church we went to, we were guests, but now, I was not the only one. Harald and our daughters felt the same. No real belonging, just guests and yes, you get "special" attention at times, but hey, at some point you need to settle in. Become part of the community and part of the process.
In our case, it just doesn't seem to end. When I took over the gym and became the South African Personal Trainer, it was as if I was the guest in my own business. Maybe, because that is what I have become accustomed to. Everyone tried to tell me how to run the business and how I would be able to get more clients and what would work better, but you know, all that does is make the "new" person uncertain of what is right and wrong and it does not really help.
When we lived in Newcastle, it was really obvious to me that Harald did not connect with anyone and just went through the motions of work-home-travel-etc. It was really hard to get any indication of how he experienced the community and whether he was happy or not. Sometimes, when we went to church I felt, that he really needed more contact, but just couldn't find the time.
And so, we belonged only in one category, "Guests". After a while, the other congregation members, became "switched off" and we could not connect anymore. The time had past to get the connection and it was time to move on again.
This time, Harald had to move alone first. Do contract work and find a new job (not so much a career anymore). The economic situation in the world forced us to make decisions that we really had no power over.
Again, my status became the guest because he was not around, he was a guest in a new place and our anchor was lifted. "Waiting for call up papers".
The few that became close to me as I worked in the gym, were very concerned and thought that I cannot be happily married if I lived so far from my husband. Questions like do you still love each other and how long is he going to be away for.... was it to find some gossip in the situation or maybe to help me find a solution to something that just had to play itself out?
Then I had to release every tie I had bound in the last 4 years, because I know by now, that friends are friends for life, but that does not mean that you will ever see them again.
I am just a guest in their lives, to do a job or fulfil a function or help them grow as they help me grow. Looking back, they are just guests in my life too then.
When you realise that we are all only guests, it makes you think of other people in a different way, doesn't it. Even you children and your parents are guests in your life. Your children need you for some things when they are young and for totally different things when they are older. Some of us are blessed to have the important ones in our lives for longer and some have to find new connections. One thing is for sure, no one, nothing, is permanent and none of the people you meet can be replaced at any cost.
Treat everyone with respect!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Cell phone, Mobile Phone, Potato, vodka
It is amazing how you can think when living in South Africa, Ah, I had English at school and most of the business world in South Africa is English, so living in a country where "English" is the main language, would be easy enough.
Haha the joke is on you, mate! Coming to a country where people think they are speaking English, but because of the mixture of Dutch, German, Cockney, and what ever else for Mediterranean and eastern accents, there is now way that they can understand what you are saying and vice versa!
They keep on telling you, you have an accent, but they don't even know how funny they sound themselves.
When you want to by a cell phone, everyone stares at you as if you are from a different planet. Here, they call it a mobile, not a mobile phone, just a mobile.
Then when you finally got that organised, they don't have your phone of choice in stock, so you have to come tomoz (that's tomorrow) arvo (that's afternoon). Because this sarvo (this afternoon) is too early. Ok, so that took weeks to figure out, because Sarvo could be a person or a place as far as I am concerned...
All in all Strayan is not such a bad language, when you get the accent figured out.
The grammar is of course not existent, so much so that while writing this blog, I am constantly thinking, "is this right?" because you lose it mate, you lose it fast.
The thing about the accent that is really disturbing to a South African is that in NSW everyone ends the sentence in a question, by this I mean that every sentence has a upturn in the voice at the end. So in my mind there is a question mark at the end of the sentence.
If you ask someone and explain where a shop is that you are trying to find it could sound like this: Just hear this in your mind: " So you turn left here and go on for 2 block and then turn right and up the stairs and the you will see it in front of you."
Now, hear this: "So you turn left here? and go on for 2 blocks? and then turn right? up the stairs and then you will see it in front of you?"
Now when you've sorted out all these little idiosyncrasies, you start to enjoy the fact that a (bakkie) Light Utility Vehicle is called a Ute and it has to have a dog on the back of it, tied on with a rope, if he is lucky.
Everyone is very helpful and friendly, so this makes up for all the funny language issues.
You are always greeted with a friendly: "How ah yas" or in a shop looking for something on the shelf " "Howaugoin?" Now normally when you are asked How are you, you are supposed to answer, "well and you?" well, here it is, "Good ya?" sounds like a tyre of some sort...
Anyway, four years ladah, I most probably sound like most of the Aussies I have meet. I am jus geddin bedda an bedda at Strayan. My daughters are now called Nicolar and Lydiar, but Talita says her name stood the test of time.
Good on ya mate!
Well being South African, one should not really think that you can speak the English tale very deliciously, because, well, we don't. And that's ok too.
Haha the joke is on you, mate! Coming to a country where people think they are speaking English, but because of the mixture of Dutch, German, Cockney, and what ever else for Mediterranean and eastern accents, there is now way that they can understand what you are saying and vice versa!
They keep on telling you, you have an accent, but they don't even know how funny they sound themselves.
When you want to by a cell phone, everyone stares at you as if you are from a different planet. Here, they call it a mobile, not a mobile phone, just a mobile.
Then when you finally got that organised, they don't have your phone of choice in stock, so you have to come tomoz (that's tomorrow) arvo (that's afternoon). Because this sarvo (this afternoon) is too early. Ok, so that took weeks to figure out, because Sarvo could be a person or a place as far as I am concerned...
All in all Strayan is not such a bad language, when you get the accent figured out.
The grammar is of course not existent, so much so that while writing this blog, I am constantly thinking, "is this right?" because you lose it mate, you lose it fast.
The thing about the accent that is really disturbing to a South African is that in NSW everyone ends the sentence in a question, by this I mean that every sentence has a upturn in the voice at the end. So in my mind there is a question mark at the end of the sentence.
If you ask someone and explain where a shop is that you are trying to find it could sound like this: Just hear this in your mind: " So you turn left here and go on for 2 block and then turn right and up the stairs and the you will see it in front of you."
Now, hear this: "So you turn left here? and go on for 2 blocks? and then turn right? up the stairs and then you will see it in front of you?"
Now when you've sorted out all these little idiosyncrasies, you start to enjoy the fact that a (bakkie) Light Utility Vehicle is called a Ute and it has to have a dog on the back of it, tied on with a rope, if he is lucky.
Everyone is very helpful and friendly, so this makes up for all the funny language issues.
You are always greeted with a friendly: "How ah yas" or in a shop looking for something on the shelf " "Howaugoin?" Now normally when you are asked How are you, you are supposed to answer, "well and you?" well, here it is, "Good ya?" sounds like a tyre of some sort...
Anyway, four years ladah, I most probably sound like most of the Aussies I have meet. I am jus geddin bedda an bedda at Strayan. My daughters are now called Nicolar and Lydiar, but Talita says her name stood the test of time.
Good on ya mate!
Well being South African, one should not really think that you can speak the English tale very deliciously, because, well, we don't. And that's ok too.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Hockey and other sports!
Lydia being the sporty one in the family, tried out for the Rep Team of new castle. Harald organised that before we even got to Australia.
On one fo the hottest days in January, being the hockey is a winter sport in South Africa, it was a little weird to put those long socks and shinpads on. Anywho, there we were.
Lydia was playing well and easily got into the team. Then someone mentioned that she didn't write down to which club she belongs... well, maybe because we did not even know she had to have a hockey club. We had no idea that school children had to belong to clubs to play hockey.
Now, which club to choose? there are so many? One of the parents said we could just as well belong to the Newcastle Club as the club coach is one of the people who picked the Rep Team, and so, that's how Lydia became a member ofthe Novacasstrian hockey Club.
Luckily all the competitions were played at these fields which made it easy since I now knew where they were. However, the Rep Team had a little weekend planned in Canberra where we would play interstate hockey.
With new school, new hockey clubs and new tennis clubs and tournaments in all of these plus school sports carnivals, Lydia was more than a little busy.
She would come home from school and tell me that footy is a stupid game or she doesn't like soccer, but move did she move.
And so winter came and the weekend to Canberra arrived. Harald in all of this, was really a bit of a missing link as BHP always had him flying off to some other country or state. So here I was, gathering my whits to take the 5 hour drive to Canberra on my own. You know, when you get that wild look in your eyes, and someone says: "ah don't worry it'll be fine..." Well this one morning at the Bible study, Cathatrina saw that my eyes were a little wilder than normal and she said, I love driving, I will go with you!
Wow, at first I thought, she just said it, but wow, she actually did it! Thanks Catharina, I really think you saved my life and Lydias that weekend.
Driving, then wasn't so bad, but when we got there, as everyone warned us, it was freezing! Canberra gets that way. It felt like home, almost. It rained most of the way down and I prayed that everyone will be sensible and cancel the weekend. But I forgot we were in Aus. The sport is king!
The Friday night games were WET and SLOSSHY! but Lydia is a trooper and she did wat had to be done!!
Then Saturday mornning it the whether cleared and we had wind all day long. Not the breezy wind that you can handle, no winds that take your breath away. Come Sunday morning, it was jsut cold and not so bad at all, until we got to the hockey fields and they turned into ICE. O boy, did these girls struggle to stay on there feet! crunch, crunch all the way through the match! And the team did as was required of them, they lost so we could all go home!
Well that was the first year hockey down and hey, we saw Canberra at its best. Thanks Cathatrina!
On one fo the hottest days in January, being the hockey is a winter sport in South Africa, it was a little weird to put those long socks and shinpads on. Anywho, there we were.
Lydia was playing well and easily got into the team. Then someone mentioned that she didn't write down to which club she belongs... well, maybe because we did not even know she had to have a hockey club. We had no idea that school children had to belong to clubs to play hockey.
Now, which club to choose? there are so many? One of the parents said we could just as well belong to the Newcastle Club as the club coach is one of the people who picked the Rep Team, and so, that's how Lydia became a member ofthe Novacasstrian hockey Club.
Luckily all the competitions were played at these fields which made it easy since I now knew where they were. However, the Rep Team had a little weekend planned in Canberra where we would play interstate hockey.
With new school, new hockey clubs and new tennis clubs and tournaments in all of these plus school sports carnivals, Lydia was more than a little busy.
She would come home from school and tell me that footy is a stupid game or she doesn't like soccer, but move did she move.
And so winter came and the weekend to Canberra arrived. Harald in all of this, was really a bit of a missing link as BHP always had him flying off to some other country or state. So here I was, gathering my whits to take the 5 hour drive to Canberra on my own. You know, when you get that wild look in your eyes, and someone says: "ah don't worry it'll be fine..." Well this one morning at the Bible study, Cathatrina saw that my eyes were a little wilder than normal and she said, I love driving, I will go with you!
Wow, at first I thought, she just said it, but wow, she actually did it! Thanks Catharina, I really think you saved my life and Lydias that weekend.
Driving, then wasn't so bad, but when we got there, as everyone warned us, it was freezing! Canberra gets that way. It felt like home, almost. It rained most of the way down and I prayed that everyone will be sensible and cancel the weekend. But I forgot we were in Aus. The sport is king!
The Friday night games were WET and SLOSSHY! but Lydia is a trooper and she did wat had to be done!!
Then Saturday mornning it the whether cleared and we had wind all day long. Not the breezy wind that you can handle, no winds that take your breath away. Come Sunday morning, it was jsut cold and not so bad at all, until we got to the hockey fields and they turned into ICE. O boy, did these girls struggle to stay on there feet! crunch, crunch all the way through the match! And the team did as was required of them, they lost so we could all go home!
Well that was the first year hockey down and hey, we saw Canberra at its best. Thanks Cathatrina!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Learning to Drive.... again!
Nici decided to take the year off, maybe she just realised that I might really go bonkers if she doesn't. But the excuse is that her results came out too late to apply for Uni in Aus and so she had year with me.
I really enjoyed having Nici around and we had lovely times, driving up to Starbucks and back. Nici had to redo all the learner hours for her drivers licence and in order to do that legally I had to get my license first. What a strenuous time, to put yourself in that ball of fire and redo your drivers test. Yip driving in SA is apparently not good enough. Well let me tell you, they have no idea. The drivers test is so much easier in Aus that it really doesn't matter whether you can drive or not, you just have to spent 120hours behind the steering wheel to be able to get your test done. Luckily for us, at we jumped in early and we could do 50hours of driving only.
Anyway, I got mine, Harald got his, Talita got hers and Nici got hers and finally a few years later, Lydia got hers. Wow at that point with South Africa and Australia together I spent no less than seven years continuously driving with a learner driver next to me.
No wonder I am a little ratty these days!!
So in the process of driving Nici and I discovered that Starbucks made the best Coffee and we became Customer of the week, B'day Bucks Girls and special guests at the Christmas party and later on Nici worked at Starbucks! O and then they closed... what a shame...not because Nici worked there, no the world economy just couldn't face another Starbucks opening up.
I really enjoyed having Nici around and we had lovely times, driving up to Starbucks and back. Nici had to redo all the learner hours for her drivers licence and in order to do that legally I had to get my license first. What a strenuous time, to put yourself in that ball of fire and redo your drivers test. Yip driving in SA is apparently not good enough. Well let me tell you, they have no idea. The drivers test is so much easier in Aus that it really doesn't matter whether you can drive or not, you just have to spent 120hours behind the steering wheel to be able to get your test done. Luckily for us, at we jumped in early and we could do 50hours of driving only.
Anyway, I got mine, Harald got his, Talita got hers and Nici got hers and finally a few years later, Lydia got hers. Wow at that point with South Africa and Australia together I spent no less than seven years continuously driving with a learner driver next to me.
No wonder I am a little ratty these days!!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Morning People?
So there I was, after all the hype of leaving and all the important things I had to do and say and play. So much to do so little time, deadline after deadline, using every skill God ever taught me from running, to banking, to organising and negotiating. Following the man to the ends of the earth as they say.
What to do now?
The days are long everything is new and exciting and scary, but there is no one you know to share it with on this side of the earth.
So we start planning school and everything that goes with that, eager to get into life "on the otherside", to meet people and find things. HAHAHA
School only starts in February! How is that possible that silly season can carry on for so long! I could have spent another month in South Africa, its not as if I have chairs to sit on or as if the kids have real beds to sleep on. Now this is a new type of camping experience. A good one, but a new one.
Right, so we sit January out and wait for February.
We went to see the Head master of the school about 2 weeks before, to get all the clothing and other requirements sorted out. He then told us, school start fairly early in the morning and he would appreciate it if we could arrive on time at 8:30am on the first day.... my mouth fell open, what?! I though you said early?
Well on the first day, Lydia and I got up early (6am) to get ready as we always do.... man was that a long wait. Don't come to Aus if you are a morning person, not many of those around.
This was one of the hardest things for me to get used to, because I was raised to get and go and wake up later. So to have people around me until 8:30 in the morning and not being able to get going myself, was really a struggle.
What to do now?
The days are long everything is new and exciting and scary, but there is no one you know to share it with on this side of the earth.
So we start planning school and everything that goes with that, eager to get into life "on the otherside", to meet people and find things. HAHAHA
School only starts in February! How is that possible that silly season can carry on for so long! I could have spent another month in South Africa, its not as if I have chairs to sit on or as if the kids have real beds to sleep on. Now this is a new type of camping experience. A good one, but a new one.
Right, so we sit January out and wait for February.
We went to see the Head master of the school about 2 weeks before, to get all the clothing and other requirements sorted out. He then told us, school start fairly early in the morning and he would appreciate it if we could arrive on time at 8:30am on the first day.... my mouth fell open, what?! I though you said early?
Well on the first day, Lydia and I got up early (6am) to get ready as we always do.... man was that a long wait. Don't come to Aus if you are a morning person, not many of those around.
This was one of the hardest things for me to get used to, because I was raised to get and go and wake up later. So to have people around me until 8:30 in the morning and not being able to get going myself, was really a struggle.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Morning After
It was the morning after we landed in Sydney that I realised, I am back in this 'funny' country where the birds wake you up from trees so close to your house that you feel as if you are in the nest with them.
Now the Magpies really struggle to hold a tune sometimes, but you can see that they don't have a clue. To them it is really the most beautiful sound they have ever heard. To a South African, used to neat little tunes of Pietmyvrou's (dont' bother trying to say it if no one ever taught you how) and hoep hoeps and lovely song birds, this is really very funny. But wait there's more... what about the Kookaburra (!) man, do they have a great sense of humor. I have never heard such loud laughter from a bird and no matter how depressed I feel on the day, they pull me through. It sounds like baboons barking. Then you get the Bell Birds, they make the sound of a U-boat... PING! Its great to hear them Pinging through the woods.
Now I am really not a bird watcher so I haven't learnt too many more names, but these birds are my favourites.
In the woods near our house in Green Point, are the most beautiful pathways to cycle, run or walk. The pathways go along the lake and through the bush, this is something you have to experience to understand how beautiful it really is.
Running any other pathway, is just not as nice after that.
Now the Magpies really struggle to hold a tune sometimes, but you can see that they don't have a clue. To them it is really the most beautiful sound they have ever heard. To a South African, used to neat little tunes of Pietmyvrou's (dont' bother trying to say it if no one ever taught you how) and hoep hoeps and lovely song birds, this is really very funny. But wait there's more... what about the Kookaburra (!) man, do they have a great sense of humor. I have never heard such loud laughter from a bird and no matter how depressed I feel on the day, they pull me through. It sounds like baboons barking. Then you get the Bell Birds, they make the sound of a U-boat... PING! Its great to hear them Pinging through the woods.
Now I am really not a bird watcher so I haven't learnt too many more names, but these birds are my favourites.
In the woods near our house in Green Point, are the most beautiful pathways to cycle, run or walk. The pathways go along the lake and through the bush, this is something you have to experience to understand how beautiful it really is.
Running any other pathway, is just not as nice after that.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Leaving, is so hard to do.
After selling everything at home. The Cars, the camping trailer and the home itself. We had the day in which we moved Talita from Pretoria to Johannesburg and Mom and Dad from their home to Darrenwood Village. Some things had to go here and some things had to move there... that was fun! My brain was never so switched on in my life! I negotiated deals and put people in their place who might want to take advantage of the fact that I am a women. I dealt with children and exams and Harald overseas. Constantly thinking, do I make this decision myself? Can I phone him or is he sleeping or in a meeting or on an aeroplane to some faraway place?
Saying good bye to everyone and everything, that was too hard to put in words. Over and over again, saying the same kind of words and realising that life is going to be very different. I played the harp one last time here and one last time there. The "Circles of Life" closed one after the other and then there were the ones that you cannot close because you have to keep them open for your own survival.
Someone asked me how much I cried, but I think I cried on the inside, there wasn't any time to cry... only to organise and move... move on, move out, just moooove!
In some ways it was really good too, because I could see how many people God let me touch in my life and maybe I should be a little kinder to most people as the ripple effect is so much bigger than you realise yourself.
At the end of December with the last Christmas behind us, we were ready to leave and I think the family was ready to let us go! Wow, what a great lot of people to leave behind! Or, do I leave them behind? No, they are coming with me, you cannot break that chain... isn't that great!? that chain stays, the love stays.
And then we arrived in the new place!
Saying good bye to everyone and everything, that was too hard to put in words. Over and over again, saying the same kind of words and realising that life is going to be very different. I played the harp one last time here and one last time there. The "Circles of Life" closed one after the other and then there were the ones that you cannot close because you have to keep them open for your own survival.
Someone asked me how much I cried, but I think I cried on the inside, there wasn't any time to cry... only to organise and move... move on, move out, just moooove!
In some ways it was really good too, because I could see how many people God let me touch in my life and maybe I should be a little kinder to most people as the ripple effect is so much bigger than you realise yourself.
At the end of December with the last Christmas behind us, we were ready to leave and I think the family was ready to let us go! Wow, what a great lot of people to leave behind! Or, do I leave them behind? No, they are coming with me, you cannot break that chain... isn't that great!? that chain stays, the love stays.
And then we arrived in the new place!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Take care, what you say could come true.
In 2001 I came over to Australia... 38 years old, first time overseas traveler, wow, so much to see so little time.
First we popped in to meet some friends in Perth. What a nice place! A little flat, but nice. very new, modern and growing.
Then we popped over to Melbourne for a Chem Ing conference. That was a buzz! I got the royal treatment and could see the city with all the wives and partners of the conference attendees. I could experience the tours on the Yarra and around the city and when I learnt about the FREE TRAM! wow this was the place to be.
And don't forget the limo rides and great hotels and the flames in the evenings at South Bank with people you know from the conference!
Hey, now that's how you market a place!
Then we went to Sydney, because you can't come to Australia without going to Sydney...
Limo rides and tour guides again! O boy, how spoilt can I be.
But I had a bit of reality in my mind left and we booked a Maui Van to go and see the Blue Mountains... At first we thought, what mountains, but now that we are living here a few years on, now we know they are beautiful!
Anyway, the experience was great except for the "canteen" that closed early (3pm) and so we had no food. O well, its all about the experience. The spring roll I had was a little on the "off" side so I felt a little less hungry for a few days. Good for the budget, don't you think.
Well, I did not know where Harald took me too, I was just the passenger and enjoyed every moment of it.
We landed up in Newcastle, what a beautiful city! At Bar Beach is where I said it: "Wow, if you want to take me away from South Africa, bring me here, this is where I want to be."
Well, in 2005 that's where we went, straight to the place that I fell in love with on my first visit to Aus!
It is so beautiful and it is right next to the sea. Real people live there, with real issues and some with not so real issues, but I loved every moment of my stay in Newcastle. Until...
First we popped in to meet some friends in Perth. What a nice place! A little flat, but nice. very new, modern and growing.
Then we popped over to Melbourne for a Chem Ing conference. That was a buzz! I got the royal treatment and could see the city with all the wives and partners of the conference attendees. I could experience the tours on the Yarra and around the city and when I learnt about the FREE TRAM! wow this was the place to be.
And don't forget the limo rides and great hotels and the flames in the evenings at South Bank with people you know from the conference!
Hey, now that's how you market a place!
Then we went to Sydney, because you can't come to Australia without going to Sydney...
Limo rides and tour guides again! O boy, how spoilt can I be.
But I had a bit of reality in my mind left and we booked a Maui Van to go and see the Blue Mountains... At first we thought, what mountains, but now that we are living here a few years on, now we know they are beautiful!
Anyway, the experience was great except for the "canteen" that closed early (3pm) and so we had no food. O well, its all about the experience. The spring roll I had was a little on the "off" side so I felt a little less hungry for a few days. Good for the budget, don't you think.
Well, I did not know where Harald took me too, I was just the passenger and enjoyed every moment of it.
We landed up in Newcastle, what a beautiful city! At Bar Beach is where I said it: "Wow, if you want to take me away from South Africa, bring me here, this is where I want to be."
Well, in 2005 that's where we went, straight to the place that I fell in love with on my first visit to Aus!
It is so beautiful and it is right next to the sea. Real people live there, with real issues and some with not so real issues, but I loved every moment of my stay in Newcastle. Until...
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Women and how they deal with moving overseas
Living in the country you were born in, makes you think that it is the only place you can ever call home. This is how I felt anyway. Growing up, getting married to the man of my dreams, becoming parents at a young age so that the kids can grow up knowing their grandparents. That was my dream. My reality.
So, this is what we did, but my husband always wanted to travel and experience other countries, not just for a holiday, but living elsewhere, that sounded great!
With work and career building and every normal growing stage, we never got around to travel much. Life was all about kids and family and schools and church. So, when the call came to move to Australia, we were so surprised and excited, that we thought we might just as well go.
The South African life was never a problem to me, I like the diversity of the cultures and I enjoyed getting closer to my fellow countrymen and women as the cultures started to merge.
My children never had the dreaded apartheid bug and could not even understand the terrible jokes that were always part of society.
So it was on the 27 December 2005 that we landed in Sydney. The flight was better than most, being that we had business class tickets. How spoilt can you get!
When we arrived at hour new home, two hours north from Sydney, we were really excited and the house was beautiful. Just like the pictures we saw.
We drove down to Sydney again on the 31st to see the fireworks, I am so thankful now that I did that, because I realise that it might have been the first and last time I see it live. What a spectacular scene! The best way to start a new chapter in your life!
On the 1st of January we realised that it is not all as it seems... we experienced the hottest day of our lives. 46 degrees Celsius! humid! the wind was hot!, the clothes in the cupboards were hot, the water in the cold tap was hot!
Around lunch time, when we realised we cannot even lie on the floor to keep cool as that was hot too, we decided to go to Port Stephens to see weather it was cooler there. Wow, were we glad to feel 38 degrees!. We had lunch there and in the afternoon drove home. When we reached Newcastle we decided to go for a swim at Nobbies beach... the water was freezing, the wind was Hot! So you would be frozen to the waist and from there you would burn from the wind blowing so hot.
Later on, the locals explained to us that the desert wind blew and that is normally combined by a very cold sea.
At this point, just a day later than my first wow, I wanted to go back to what I was used to.
This was my first experience of my new home.
So, this is what we did, but my husband always wanted to travel and experience other countries, not just for a holiday, but living elsewhere, that sounded great!
With work and career building and every normal growing stage, we never got around to travel much. Life was all about kids and family and schools and church. So, when the call came to move to Australia, we were so surprised and excited, that we thought we might just as well go.
The South African life was never a problem to me, I like the diversity of the cultures and I enjoyed getting closer to my fellow countrymen and women as the cultures started to merge.
My children never had the dreaded apartheid bug and could not even understand the terrible jokes that were always part of society.
So it was on the 27 December 2005 that we landed in Sydney. The flight was better than most, being that we had business class tickets. How spoilt can you get!
When we arrived at hour new home, two hours north from Sydney, we were really excited and the house was beautiful. Just like the pictures we saw.
We drove down to Sydney again on the 31st to see the fireworks, I am so thankful now that I did that, because I realise that it might have been the first and last time I see it live. What a spectacular scene! The best way to start a new chapter in your life!
On the 1st of January we realised that it is not all as it seems... we experienced the hottest day of our lives. 46 degrees Celsius! humid! the wind was hot!, the clothes in the cupboards were hot, the water in the cold tap was hot!
Around lunch time, when we realised we cannot even lie on the floor to keep cool as that was hot too, we decided to go to Port Stephens to see weather it was cooler there. Wow, were we glad to feel 38 degrees!. We had lunch there and in the afternoon drove home. When we reached Newcastle we decided to go for a swim at Nobbies beach... the water was freezing, the wind was Hot! So you would be frozen to the waist and from there you would burn from the wind blowing so hot.
Later on, the locals explained to us that the desert wind blew and that is normally combined by a very cold sea.
At this point, just a day later than my first wow, I wanted to go back to what I was used to.
This was my first experience of my new home.
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