~Merry Christmas~

Christmas Day 2005 - Bondi Beach

Merry Christmas to you all! Hopefully you all had a wonderful day back home...I heard it was nice & warm for Calgary standards! Mine was great in a very strange sort of way. First, I woke up and listened to a bunch of friends back home singing the entire version of Silent Night on my voicemail. And yes, I missed the original call because it was 0530am my time and I DID have my earplugs in! Then I sat down on my cot and arranged all my gifts in front of me. There was one. But it was great and it made my day! Don't feel too sorry for me though, because a few short hours later, I found myself on Bondi Beach, surrounded by throngs of people (many in Santa hats) suntanning the day away. The girls from the residence and I spread out our stolen hospital sheets and set up our Christmas dinner, which consisted of Doritos, kettle chips, cheesecake, fruit, pop and other assorted junkfood. Despite drinking sizzling hot Pepsi to quench our thirst, it all turned out quite nice, considering it was a mass gathering for all of us 'orphans.'

I should back up as well...Christmas Eve was spent listening to carols put on down at Darling Harbour. Santa came roaring onto the scene "sydney-style" which was not on a sleigh but on a jet-ski. That show ended with a beautiful display of fireworks and then I headed home to get ready for the big beach day.

Today was officially boxing day but for the 1st time ever I was not anywhere near a mall. After I got over that initial disappointment, we went over to Watson's Bay, a bus ride from the main harbour and watched the start of the celebrated Sydney to Hobart (in Tasmania) yacht race. It was so exhausting that we had a cool beer at Doyle's, one of the many seafood pubs on the water. No, I still have not given in to the seafood here even though one of the doctors at work told me that not eating it was like 'missing out on a huge part of your life.'

Back at work today for another Australian Holiday. I think they are celebrating the fact that today is indeed, December 27th. I see no other reason for a national holiday. Either way, it was a great day and I'm actually getting used to the uniforms here. By that, I'm referring to the 5 inch slit we all have on the sides of our scrub bottoms, so you get to show a little skin at work. I'm also jokingly being referred to as the replacement for a fellow Canadian at work who's soon leaving us. She's quite entertaining in a "I can't believe she's representing Canada" type way. I overheard her loudly proclaiming her skills at acquiring Australian men and boasted that she was dating not one, but two such 24yr olds currently. "1985 was a good year" she told everyone at the lunch table. What the...?!?

New Year's Eve is the next big event here. My friend Nigel from Brisbane is flying down to stay with me. We met in England while traveling in 2004 and have kept in touch ever since. I always said that 'one day' I would be nursing in Australia and here I am. The fireworks go right off of the Harbour Bridge so it should be pretty amazing to see but I am not looking forward to the anticipated 38C muggy weather whilst camping out beforehand for hours for a spot!