15.02.2011 Letter to my Aussie Cousins
Dear Ala, Katie and Ruari (and Auntie Susan and Uncle Mark)
I hope you are having fun in Australia. Are you getting sunburnt? I have to wear suncream AND mozzie stuff EVERY day! I hear you have a pool like we have, isn’t it great? I swim nearly every day and have lots of toys in the pool; I particularly like the plastic balls which are endless fun. Me and the neighbours throw them in the pool along with anything else we find!
Mummy says we are writing to say thank you so much for all our toys and books and clothes and shoes and climbing frame. Thank you! Everyone comes to play on our swing and slide and Daddy says it belongs to all the children but I shout at them when they touch it anyway. Not always though, sometimes I like to push Maia when she is in the swing and sometimes I go on the slide with Yasmina. They like my cars and trike that we have outside very much and Daddy says they are for everyone too but still I shout when they touch my things. Yasmina does look worried when I’m around but Maia is getting used to me and just ignores me now. She is my favourite and I shout ‘Maumau’ whenever I see her and try to cuddle her if she will let me. Because she is only a year old she is littler than me and Mummy says I have to be gentle but she is quite strong actually and good at pushing. Yasmina is 4 days younger than me but not so big and not so shouty or vocal as Mummy likes to call it.
In our front room we have a corner with my toy chest which used to belong to Auntie Susan and some blankets that Nannie made and boxes with my toys in, most of which come from you, Mummy says. I’m very grateful! I really like the Thomas the Tank etch-a-sketch thingy and the Little Tikes car is my favourite. I am wearing cousin Ruari’s shoes at the moment and I swim in his old swimsuit and Mummy says she doesn’t know what we would have done without you.
Tell me about your new home; do you have kangaroos in the garden? Now we have the TV fixed I like to watch Animal Planet if I can get in before Daddy puts the football on. Do you have TV in Australia? Have you started school? Is it like your old school and do people wear uniforms? What do you eat for school lunch? We go to the Australian Club on a Sunday evening because they have a barbecue and the best steaks ever for Mummy and Daddy and English sausages for me! Yesterday we went there on our bikes and I have a seat on the back of Mummy’s bike and I’m not sure what to think about that but I look cute in my helmet anyway. We have lots of Australian products in the supermarket (but I hate going shopping after the first 10 minutes!!) and I like to drink ‘Juicy’ for example but usually I eat mostly pasta and would like to eat my own weight in cheese if allowed but I’m not.
The people here are really nice and I really like my nanny Amber and I call her Ambu or sometimes Abba. The boys that work in the compound on the pool and the gardens and maintenance and so on are super nice to me too and play with me all the time and I get to help clean the pool and sometimes I even get to hold the hosepipe when they water the gardens.
I have a stinking cold at the moment which means I wake up in the night all bunged up and miserable plus I have some ginormous teeth coming through which are called ‘molars’ and it hurts. Otherwise I am having a lovely time, thriving Mummy says and I am nearly 14kilos and 80cms tall and people like to grab my chubby legs when we are out and I don’t like it so I shriek loudly at them and Daddy gets cross with them and tries to explain why they can’t poke at me all the time. Mummy calls it cultural differences but I don’t know what that means.
One of my favouritest things to do is look at photos and I make Mummy point and tell me who everyone is; last week I learnt to say Emmee for Auntie Emily and Bapa for Papa because my bestest photo is with Daddy and Bapa and Baby which is me. Daddy is going to print some photos of you three but says I can ask if you have any good family ones or ones with your Mummy and Daddy on because I know who Auntie Susan is but a photo to remind me would be ace.
I’ve got to go now because I’m going to email Nannie and tell her I can say Bapa and also that Mummy and Daddy packed some of her marmalade and they are very happy about that. Sometimes I think all they think about is food!
Lots and lots and lots and lots of love and thanks for all our things.
Alfie xxxxxxxxxxx
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Chickens are No More
16.02.2011 The Chickens are No More
The chickens on the compound are, well, gone. Disappeared. They may be ex-chickens. Or in fact, um, dead. The baby chickens have been gone for a while, I just didn’t like to tell you. We woke one morning to find no baby chickens, I mean chicks(we speak Alfie speak all the time) and were told the cold had taken them. Hmm.
The daddy chicken (cockerel) went soon after, this time we were told that some residents had complained about the noise. Not us! We love that cockadoodledoo at all hours of the night and day. Besides there is another one living just outside our gates so it doesn’t make much difference. Though now I come to think of it, I haven’t seen him for a while either.
Finally they all went and poor old Alfie had to make do with chasing pigeons, which his friend the pool guy kindly fed with bits of rice. I wasn’t too impressed, more because the blighters sit and poo by the shallow end of the pool than because they are hateful rats of the sky sort of thing, but I figure Alfie was so delighted and they practically live on our roof anyway, what difference does it make?
Then last week we had a slip through the door from the management company to tell us that on NO ACCOUNT were we to feed or encourage birds in the compound. Slight pang of guilt as I’d put aside a bread crust for Alfie to contribute to the feeding spectacle, though it may well have ended up in the bin as I forgot to tell Amber what it was for… in any case, it’s all because avian flu has been diagnosed in a case somewhere in the Rakhine region, so y’know, precautions and all that. (You can just imagine Pete’s reaction, scoff was not the word!)
Well anyway the upshot is we are reduced to several hundred sparrows instead. Or maybe a couple of dozen or so; they hang out by the wall and do plenty of fluttering and fighting and tweeting and they seem to keep Alfie amused a fair bit. But it’s not the same without the chickens.
The chickens on the compound are, well, gone. Disappeared. They may be ex-chickens. Or in fact, um, dead. The baby chickens have been gone for a while, I just didn’t like to tell you. We woke one morning to find no baby chickens, I mean chicks(we speak Alfie speak all the time) and were told the cold had taken them. Hmm.
The daddy chicken (cockerel) went soon after, this time we were told that some residents had complained about the noise. Not us! We love that cockadoodledoo at all hours of the night and day. Besides there is another one living just outside our gates so it doesn’t make much difference. Though now I come to think of it, I haven’t seen him for a while either.
Finally they all went and poor old Alfie had to make do with chasing pigeons, which his friend the pool guy kindly fed with bits of rice. I wasn’t too impressed, more because the blighters sit and poo by the shallow end of the pool than because they are hateful rats of the sky sort of thing, but I figure Alfie was so delighted and they practically live on our roof anyway, what difference does it make?
Then last week we had a slip through the door from the management company to tell us that on NO ACCOUNT were we to feed or encourage birds in the compound. Slight pang of guilt as I’d put aside a bread crust for Alfie to contribute to the feeding spectacle, though it may well have ended up in the bin as I forgot to tell Amber what it was for… in any case, it’s all because avian flu has been diagnosed in a case somewhere in the Rakhine region, so y’know, precautions and all that. (You can just imagine Pete’s reaction, scoff was not the word!)
Well anyway the upshot is we are reduced to several hundred sparrows instead. Or maybe a couple of dozen or so; they hang out by the wall and do plenty of fluttering and fighting and tweeting and they seem to keep Alfie amused a fair bit. But it’s not the same without the chickens.
National Museum
08.02.2011 National Museum
Wow, wow and triple wow, this place was fantastic! Obvs like super frowned upon for being a government whatsit and paying them my $5 entry fee is like, supporting them and whatever but I mean, what a place! How could I resist the lure of a national museum so vast, so cool and quiet, so EMPTY?
Of people, obviously, not things. Oh no, lots and lots of lovely things to look at and spread over 4 massive floors we didn’t quite manage it all, but it was so nice to have somewhere cool to push Alfie round in the buggy (after an hour he got bored and just wanted to play in the lifts) and some of the things were very impressive. The Lion Throne for starters, which is their pride and joy and is a 25’ arch thing with lions and dragons and gilding and carving and all sorts, displayed in its own special room.
Then there was a model of the palace at Mandalay. My goodness but it was impressive. Not such a stone mausoleum as we’re used to in the west, but a series of interconnected pagodas and timber framed buildings stretching, well, far! They had so many buildings they even had a Flower Distribution Building, which I think you’ll agree is fairly opulent.
Then on the top floor were mannequins dressed in national dress from all the different ethnicities in Myanmar and not only was this really fun, it also went on forever. I think there are over 35 recognised tribes so with male and female dress represented, it took a while to walk round them all.
But my absolutely favourite thing was the ceremonial robes from the old kings and queens. Oh My Days but they were covered in stones. And I mean COVERED in gems of all descriptions. They literally stood up on their own and those queens may have been tiny (I reckon a 12 year old would struggle to fit in to them) but my they must have been strong. Those things looked like they weighed a ton! Like bling with added superbling and had they bothered to dust them properly and put a light in the display case, we would have had to wear sunglasses I’m sure.
Clearly there is more to see, I completely forgot about the calligraphy and old manuscripts, musical instruments, paladins and a whole room full of Buddhas and there were more sections I didn’t see. So when you come to visit, guess where we’ll be going!
Wow, wow and triple wow, this place was fantastic! Obvs like super frowned upon for being a government whatsit and paying them my $5 entry fee is like, supporting them and whatever but I mean, what a place! How could I resist the lure of a national museum so vast, so cool and quiet, so EMPTY?
Of people, obviously, not things. Oh no, lots and lots of lovely things to look at and spread over 4 massive floors we didn’t quite manage it all, but it was so nice to have somewhere cool to push Alfie round in the buggy (after an hour he got bored and just wanted to play in the lifts) and some of the things were very impressive. The Lion Throne for starters, which is their pride and joy and is a 25’ arch thing with lions and dragons and gilding and carving and all sorts, displayed in its own special room.
Then there was a model of the palace at Mandalay. My goodness but it was impressive. Not such a stone mausoleum as we’re used to in the west, but a series of interconnected pagodas and timber framed buildings stretching, well, far! They had so many buildings they even had a Flower Distribution Building, which I think you’ll agree is fairly opulent.
Then on the top floor were mannequins dressed in national dress from all the different ethnicities in Myanmar and not only was this really fun, it also went on forever. I think there are over 35 recognised tribes so with male and female dress represented, it took a while to walk round them all.
But my absolutely favourite thing was the ceremonial robes from the old kings and queens. Oh My Days but they were covered in stones. And I mean COVERED in gems of all descriptions. They literally stood up on their own and those queens may have been tiny (I reckon a 12 year old would struggle to fit in to them) but my they must have been strong. Those things looked like they weighed a ton! Like bling with added superbling and had they bothered to dust them properly and put a light in the display case, we would have had to wear sunglasses I’m sure.
Clearly there is more to see, I completely forgot about the calligraphy and old manuscripts, musical instruments, paladins and a whole room full of Buddhas and there were more sections I didn’t see. So when you come to visit, guess where we’ll be going!
Like the WI with Added Bling
07.02.2011 Like the WI with Added Bling
I ventured out this week to the monthly meeting of the International Friends Group, who, amongst other things, publish the rather fantastic Golden Guide to Yangon, a bible for expats. It said right there on the flyleaf that the meetings took place on the first Monday of every month at the Inya Lake Hotel so I thought why not? At the worst I’ll get a free cup of coffee out of it!
I felt a wee bit out of place at first, being the only white face and the only person under 60 but the Vice Chairman made me super welcome (and another foreigner and some younger people did turn up eventually) and explained a little bit about the IFG. Basically the good ladies of Myanmar, who lunch and do charity, hold fundraising events, sewing circles, organise community visits to orphanages and old people’s homes and have get togethers such as the monthly meeting I was at. The nibbles were ace! At each monthly meeting they also have a talk, much like the WI (I think) and this week it was from a local jewellery designer who brought along some of his work. The cheapest item was $7 000US! Those ladies gave him a right grilling about how to spot a good ruby (the trend in 2011 is for the lighter shade of red known as pink sapphire for those of you that are interested; Westerners love this shade whilst the Americans prefer the darker, and more expensive, Pigeon’s Blood rubies) how to spot a good pearl (South Sea pearls are a creamy yellow with no imperfections and generally considered the best; black and pink pearls are a bit meh to jewellers but the foreigners seem to like them) and how to convert your brooches into pendants. And so on and so forth - you can see the circles I am mixing in!
And then I swapped business cards with any number of charming old ladies, gave them my email 3 times, bought a cotton sundress from the sewing circle and signed up to a sunset river cruise. Result! Not only that I made a new friend who gave me a lift home and I’m even considering signing up for some orphanage visits, as one of them is local to me (though I’m not sure my heart will be able to take it… we’ll see).
All in all a lovely morning and a very warm welcome indeed. Much like the WI but with added bling!
I ventured out this week to the monthly meeting of the International Friends Group, who, amongst other things, publish the rather fantastic Golden Guide to Yangon, a bible for expats. It said right there on the flyleaf that the meetings took place on the first Monday of every month at the Inya Lake Hotel so I thought why not? At the worst I’ll get a free cup of coffee out of it!
I felt a wee bit out of place at first, being the only white face and the only person under 60 but the Vice Chairman made me super welcome (and another foreigner and some younger people did turn up eventually) and explained a little bit about the IFG. Basically the good ladies of Myanmar, who lunch and do charity, hold fundraising events, sewing circles, organise community visits to orphanages and old people’s homes and have get togethers such as the monthly meeting I was at. The nibbles were ace! At each monthly meeting they also have a talk, much like the WI (I think) and this week it was from a local jewellery designer who brought along some of his work. The cheapest item was $7 000US! Those ladies gave him a right grilling about how to spot a good ruby (the trend in 2011 is for the lighter shade of red known as pink sapphire for those of you that are interested; Westerners love this shade whilst the Americans prefer the darker, and more expensive, Pigeon’s Blood rubies) how to spot a good pearl (South Sea pearls are a creamy yellow with no imperfections and generally considered the best; black and pink pearls are a bit meh to jewellers but the foreigners seem to like them) and how to convert your brooches into pendants. And so on and so forth - you can see the circles I am mixing in!
And then I swapped business cards with any number of charming old ladies, gave them my email 3 times, bought a cotton sundress from the sewing circle and signed up to a sunset river cruise. Result! Not only that I made a new friend who gave me a lift home and I’m even considering signing up for some orphanage visits, as one of them is local to me (though I’m not sure my heart will be able to take it… we’ll see).
All in all a lovely morning and a very warm welcome indeed. Much like the WI but with added bling!
Pamela, Aggy, Alice and Me
11.02.2011 Pamela, Aggie, Alice and Me
Just a quick Nairobi footnote; we are still in touch with our fantastic housekeeper and childminder extraordinaire, Pamela, who writes us lovely chatty emails when she can. Her daughter Aggie is doing very well in school, often coming in the top 2 of her class and they will be going on her promised trip to Mombasa in April we hear.
I’m not sure I mentioned Alice in my previous posts. She was a lovely lady who worked in our apartment block and was great friends with Pamela. She was also very taken with Alfie and very pregnant when we left! In fact her baby was due in October and if she had a boy she wanted to call him Alfie. Sweet!
Well I’m pleased to say that on XX October she delivered a healthy baby girl, 3.3kgs and decided to call her… Vicky! I am stupidly delighted by this of course and hope that one day we can all catch up again and I can meet little Vicky.
On that note, if any of you are going to Kenya or even stopping off in Nairobi, do let me know as we would love to send along a few small things for Pamela, Aggie, Alice and Vicky. Thank you!
Just a quick Nairobi footnote; we are still in touch with our fantastic housekeeper and childminder extraordinaire, Pamela, who writes us lovely chatty emails when she can. Her daughter Aggie is doing very well in school, often coming in the top 2 of her class and they will be going on her promised trip to Mombasa in April we hear.
I’m not sure I mentioned Alice in my previous posts. She was a lovely lady who worked in our apartment block and was great friends with Pamela. She was also very taken with Alfie and very pregnant when we left! In fact her baby was due in October and if she had a boy she wanted to call him Alfie. Sweet!
Well I’m pleased to say that on XX October she delivered a healthy baby girl, 3.3kgs and decided to call her… Vicky! I am stupidly delighted by this of course and hope that one day we can all catch up again and I can meet little Vicky.
On that note, if any of you are going to Kenya or even stopping off in Nairobi, do let me know as we would love to send along a few small things for Pamela, Aggie, Alice and Vicky. Thank you!
The British Club vs The Australian Club
07.02.2011 The British Club vs The Australian Club
So last weekend we went to the British Club on Friday night and the Australian Club on Sunday night. We would have attempted the hat trick of including the American Club but unfortunately they also have their socials on a Sunday and the thought of barbecue and beers won out over, well, hamburgers and cokes I guess. Though last week they had a luau party so we missed out on the cocktails that time.
For the uninitiated, the above mentioned clubs exist anywhere where expats may live work and party and can be an oasis of familiarity when the culture shock is just too much. They are usually attached to the embassies and offer home comforts, at least booze you would recognise if not actual ‘home cooked’ food. As member’s clubs they used to be a bit more exclusive, with new members having to be nominated by old ones and such other archaic nonsense. They held frequent functions and events which all expats, no matter what nationality, would want to attend. Any excuse for a party in fact, including Valentine’s Dinners and St Patrick’s Day Balls and Harvest Festivals and so on and so forth.
These days they need all the business they can get, though the British Club only opens its doors to all comers on the first Friday of the month, whereas the Aussies and Americans have an open door policy every week. And, in keeping with the modern world, the Brit Club only has an evening do which is a tad disappointing when you note that the others are much more family friendly; inviting anyone with kids to use their facilities, both including a pool and a playground.
So that the BC only comes alive about 10pm when all the young NGO workers have had dinner and remember that the doors close at 11pm (though the party continues until 1am or something. How would I know? I’m a mum!). To compare the BC premises with the AC premises is a little unfair… but I will anyway. The BC sits in an unprepossessing building, reminiscent of a 1970’s motel reception complete with an original formica bar and the smallest gin and tonics in the universe (shame on you!). There is some weird payment system whereby you purchase a card for $15 which has units marked up on it which only the barman understands, and the then duly marks a few off when you order a drink. Who knows how much they cost? I moved fairly swiftly on to beers which I haven’t drunk for about a gazillion years so you can see how disappointed I was. Still, I’m sure it was Gordon’s or Beefeater in that little eggcup.
So we sit on the patio outside, surrounding a pool no bigger than ours with quite a formidable fence. To stop the little ones falling in no doubt, once they’ve tired of the tiny wendy house and climbing frame affair nestled in a dark corner. Not that Friday nights are in any way family orientated, oh now. Vast groups of heavily smoking loudly chatting young folk arrive in great swathes and take up space around us. Everybody but EVERYBODY complains about how empty it is and that there is literally NO-ONE there tonight and apparently there is something going on up at the Brewery and you should have seen it in the old days (the Brit Club that is, not the Brewery. I assume anyway).
And do you know, despite how it may sound, I had lots of fun. There is something to be said for squeezing all your fun into 2 hours (obviously we arrived unfashionably early and left in the same manner, this being the first time we had arranged for a babysitter. Besides, we have to get up at 6.30am whether we want to or not.) And I met loads of people, not one of them British either. Plenty of French, a lovely Norwegian/Danish couple who kept us entertained for ages, the Israeli ambassador, some Myanmar ladies (in the toilet. Not with the ambassador though!). We compared bodies i.e. how many nationals of each country supposedly live in Yangon. I’ve heard 140 German, including all the children, and about 300 French who are second only to the Americans in numbers. Someone asserted that there are 10 Swedes. Great! I know of 5 including me, so 5 more to meet! Unless they’re counting the children of course…
All in all it was a good night. I may even go again. I will not, however, bother joining the club as a member. I’m sure any events will come to our notice in any case.
Now the Aussie club is a different proposition entirely, as you might expect. The compound is gorgeous, big and green and manicured with a huge pool and a baby pool besides and a lovely climbing frame, slides and swings in a big sandpit. From 4pm on a Sunday anyone is welcome and though they also operate the weird card/unit system you can at least get a cold one and some decent white wine for your dollars. They have a massive barbecue patio where you can grill your meat yourself! Woo hoo, what a great way to meet people. At 6pm everyone rushes to the grills while a vast amount of salads and accompaniments are laid out on a central table. We had the most delicious steaks and Alfie had English sausages, such a treat. And you sit on big round tables so you have to talk to the people around you which is a brilliant idea.
I was a little disappointed at the lack of Australians but once again it seemed there was something going on elsewhere and it was unusually empty, as people kept telling us. (Does this happen everywhere you go I wonder?) I did however meet some great people including the Ambassadress (as in female Ambassador???) who was delightful and of course has Betty as her nanny, sister to our nanny, Amber. So you know, practically related and all that. She said she was thinking of starting a playgroup to which I said Yayy! Or something equally enthusiastic (and I wasn’t even drunk or anything). Soon there will be more playgroups than days of the week which is fantastic.
But almost the best thing about the Aussie club is that it is very close to our house and we could cycle there in a jiffy. In fact we saw a bicycle with a child seat on it just like ours, leaning against the railings, so clearly we are not the only mad ones. It may even be worth taking out membership at this one…
To be entirely fair we will of course be checking out the American Club too. They have a couple of things going for them, not least a softball team and other sporting events, plus an endless supply of Canada Dry Tonic apparently. Let’s hope the burgers are up to scratch!
So last weekend we went to the British Club on Friday night and the Australian Club on Sunday night. We would have attempted the hat trick of including the American Club but unfortunately they also have their socials on a Sunday and the thought of barbecue and beers won out over, well, hamburgers and cokes I guess. Though last week they had a luau party so we missed out on the cocktails that time.
For the uninitiated, the above mentioned clubs exist anywhere where expats may live work and party and can be an oasis of familiarity when the culture shock is just too much. They are usually attached to the embassies and offer home comforts, at least booze you would recognise if not actual ‘home cooked’ food. As member’s clubs they used to be a bit more exclusive, with new members having to be nominated by old ones and such other archaic nonsense. They held frequent functions and events which all expats, no matter what nationality, would want to attend. Any excuse for a party in fact, including Valentine’s Dinners and St Patrick’s Day Balls and Harvest Festivals and so on and so forth.
These days they need all the business they can get, though the British Club only opens its doors to all comers on the first Friday of the month, whereas the Aussies and Americans have an open door policy every week. And, in keeping with the modern world, the Brit Club only has an evening do which is a tad disappointing when you note that the others are much more family friendly; inviting anyone with kids to use their facilities, both including a pool and a playground.
So that the BC only comes alive about 10pm when all the young NGO workers have had dinner and remember that the doors close at 11pm (though the party continues until 1am or something. How would I know? I’m a mum!). To compare the BC premises with the AC premises is a little unfair… but I will anyway. The BC sits in an unprepossessing building, reminiscent of a 1970’s motel reception complete with an original formica bar and the smallest gin and tonics in the universe (shame on you!). There is some weird payment system whereby you purchase a card for $15 which has units marked up on it which only the barman understands, and the then duly marks a few off when you order a drink. Who knows how much they cost? I moved fairly swiftly on to beers which I haven’t drunk for about a gazillion years so you can see how disappointed I was. Still, I’m sure it was Gordon’s or Beefeater in that little eggcup.
So we sit on the patio outside, surrounding a pool no bigger than ours with quite a formidable fence. To stop the little ones falling in no doubt, once they’ve tired of the tiny wendy house and climbing frame affair nestled in a dark corner. Not that Friday nights are in any way family orientated, oh now. Vast groups of heavily smoking loudly chatting young folk arrive in great swathes and take up space around us. Everybody but EVERYBODY complains about how empty it is and that there is literally NO-ONE there tonight and apparently there is something going on up at the Brewery and you should have seen it in the old days (the Brit Club that is, not the Brewery. I assume anyway).
And do you know, despite how it may sound, I had lots of fun. There is something to be said for squeezing all your fun into 2 hours (obviously we arrived unfashionably early and left in the same manner, this being the first time we had arranged for a babysitter. Besides, we have to get up at 6.30am whether we want to or not.) And I met loads of people, not one of them British either. Plenty of French, a lovely Norwegian/Danish couple who kept us entertained for ages, the Israeli ambassador, some Myanmar ladies (in the toilet. Not with the ambassador though!). We compared bodies i.e. how many nationals of each country supposedly live in Yangon. I’ve heard 140 German, including all the children, and about 300 French who are second only to the Americans in numbers. Someone asserted that there are 10 Swedes. Great! I know of 5 including me, so 5 more to meet! Unless they’re counting the children of course…
All in all it was a good night. I may even go again. I will not, however, bother joining the club as a member. I’m sure any events will come to our notice in any case.
Now the Aussie club is a different proposition entirely, as you might expect. The compound is gorgeous, big and green and manicured with a huge pool and a baby pool besides and a lovely climbing frame, slides and swings in a big sandpit. From 4pm on a Sunday anyone is welcome and though they also operate the weird card/unit system you can at least get a cold one and some decent white wine for your dollars. They have a massive barbecue patio where you can grill your meat yourself! Woo hoo, what a great way to meet people. At 6pm everyone rushes to the grills while a vast amount of salads and accompaniments are laid out on a central table. We had the most delicious steaks and Alfie had English sausages, such a treat. And you sit on big round tables so you have to talk to the people around you which is a brilliant idea.
I was a little disappointed at the lack of Australians but once again it seemed there was something going on elsewhere and it was unusually empty, as people kept telling us. (Does this happen everywhere you go I wonder?) I did however meet some great people including the Ambassadress (as in female Ambassador???) who was delightful and of course has Betty as her nanny, sister to our nanny, Amber. So you know, practically related and all that. She said she was thinking of starting a playgroup to which I said Yayy! Or something equally enthusiastic (and I wasn’t even drunk or anything). Soon there will be more playgroups than days of the week which is fantastic.
But almost the best thing about the Aussie club is that it is very close to our house and we could cycle there in a jiffy. In fact we saw a bicycle with a child seat on it just like ours, leaning against the railings, so clearly we are not the only mad ones. It may even be worth taking out membership at this one…
To be entirely fair we will of course be checking out the American Club too. They have a couple of things going for them, not least a softball team and other sporting events, plus an endless supply of Canada Dry Tonic apparently. Let’s hope the burgers are up to scratch!
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