Saturday 5 November 2011

Things I Miss

Well it's hard to believe I have been here over a year - in fact it's been nearly 16 months! I thought I would write about things I miss. Obviously I miss my friends and family. I think the hardest part of working as a live-in carer is the social isolation. Living with someone as a carer is not the same as just generally living with someone. For one, you can leave when you want and two, you can generally have visitors whenever you want. It is also unlikely that you spend soo much of your day with just one person, no matter how close you are! I also miss my babies like crazy. My client at the moment is the first one I have had who doesn't have a pet cat, in fact she doesn't even like cats! And I do miss my furry companions as much as (sometimes more than) my two legged companions :p. Though I'm sure Cleo and Abby probably don't miss me as much as I miss them!

I can imagine what it will be like when I get back to Aus, I will want to have some sort of food fest. There are so many food relating things I miss. Things like Tim Tams, good steak, cheap meat, sausages that AREN'T pork. There are a few 'restaurants' that I miss too - Sizzler's, Hog's Breath Cafe, Cactus Jack's and Red Rooster to name some. What can I say, I like food, and I like the way the Aussie's do it!

I also miss the weather - when I went to France for scuba diving I LOVED the constant warmth and sunshine. But in saying that I also miss the opposite - a dark stormy night. Yes, England might rain a bit, and bet wet and miserable, they it doesn't know how to do storms! I miss those torrential downpours, where you can't even hear the tv, no matter how loud you turn it up (that's if the power doesn't go out of course!) Of course I don't want anything too extreme, like droughts and floods, but a bright, sunny, warm day followed by a dark, stormy night would be awesome!!

I miss the southern hemisphere stars. Looking up at the sky just isn't the same, and it is the main thing that tells me I'm not 'home'. Firstly you just can't see as many stars - you don't get that classic milky way look. If you do see any stars, it's only the brightest, and not a lot at that. And of course you can't see the southern cross over here. Looking up and seeing the 'plough' or 'big dipper' just isn't right. There is a reason I got the southern cross tattooed on my foot!

The main thing I miss about Australians in general is our ability of saying things like it is and not 'beating around the bush' (great saying!). For example I went with G & A to their friends house for Last Night of the Proms. One of the singers was wearing a frumpy, shapeless, grey dressed. All the oldies were sitting around saying things like 'hmm, yes, it is an interesting dress'. I was sitting there thinking (and this is what I actually said) 'it's horrible'. After I said that they all gave a kind of awkward laugh, and still couldn't admit it. Even though I knew what they were all thinking. The bad thing is that I have to be careful of what I say sometimes, cos others don't have the same ability of saying it like it is, and can sometimes be offended by my bluntness - but surely it is better to tell the truth?!

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