Four seasons in one day...

It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes....

We need to talk about heat. Not the magazine....Because it is very hot. Like train track buckling and melting hot. I kid you not. I cannot walk on my deck without shoes on. My swimming pool is constantly calling out to me (and anyone who knows me well will tell you that I am not a person given to getting in swimming pools, unless I have drunk a great deal of alcohol and inappropriately removed all my clothing). I have been doing my housework in only my pants...

I know you are all seeing on the news about the heatwave in Australia and the deaths in the bush fires north of Melbourne. Thus far there have not been any serious fires in Sydney. Which is fairly unusual. The fact that our house backs onto National Park bushland where there have been fires before does not exactly inspire confidence, but you really have to accept it as a part of life in Australia.

By contrast there has been terrible flooding in some parts of Queensland, where a state of emergency has been declared and many people have lost their homes. And in Europe they are experiencing the coldest and snowiest winter for many years.

Don't you sometimes feel like we are watching the apocalypse?

Most of you will know that I am not exactly religious, but if I was, I would be thinking the end of the world was nigh. I might even have to get a sandwich board with that written on it and parade up and down the northern beaches. And I would, you know....if it wasn't so bloody hot.

On a slightly different tack (but still on the general theme of the end of the world is nigh, so allowable I feel), sometimes when I am watching daytime tv (I know...I can only blame myself) I do feel like maybe Sodom and Gommorah is alive and well in some states of America. Do they show the Maury Povich show on UK tv?? This is a show that is entirely about helping people prove who is the father of their child through DNA testing. Some of these women come onto the show up to 14 times testing various dreadful young men, who they swear they are 100% sure is the father of their child, only to hear - again - that he is NOT the father. Are they really saying they slept with 14 people that month? And if you had - would you want to go on the tv and tell the world about it??

Anyway - I digress. It's probably not fair to blame global warming on the loose morals of an American subclass who just want to get on tv.

We are told that the weather in our part of NSW is about to cool down by up to about 10 degrees and that we will be getting rain next week. This will bring the fear of bushfire down a few notches, but will make getting the washing done problematic.

Life is never perfect, is it?

Random Conversation

I am standing outside the kiosk on Shelley Beach with the children and the dog. A man with two youngsters approaches the dog and gives him a pat.

'What a beautiful dog. What's his name?'

'Bronson.'

A pause...

'Is that after Pierce then?'

'Erm no - Bronson. After Charles Bronson.'

We both pat the dog.

'What breed is he then?' says the man.

'He's a Bernese Mountain Dog.'

A pause....

'Is he from Burma then?'

'...No. Berne. In Switzerland.'

I smile. I don't want him to feel silly.

The children watch with interest while we both continue to pat the dog. I'm starting to wish he would go away.

'So,' he says. 'What does he do for mating?'

'I'm sorry?'

'I mean - you know. What does he do - you know - when he mates?'

Is it me.....?!

Christmas and New Year 2008

In contrast to last year, we awoke on Christmas morning to the sort of weather we Poms have always believed to be the norm for the day - blue skies, big sun, high temperatures. Sydneysiders will tell you that that good weather on Christmas Day is, in reality, as elusive as white Christmases in the UK, but for 2008, the weather outdid itself.



We were joined for the day by, of course, Grace and Bob, who were visiting for 3 weeks or so (they left for Perth and Singapore yesterday), plus Nicky and Graham and their brood. We ate a HUGE bbq outside, played a few games, splashed about in the pool and ended the afternoon drinking champagne in the outdoor spa. It was perfect. The children had a great time - especially when competing with the men at basketball!

On Boxing Day, our tradition (such that it is!) is to take the leftovers to the beach for a picnic, and this year Dee Why was chosen. I think there were more people on the beach that day than I have seen on the beach ever before in Australia, but the atmosphere was extremely convivial, the sea clear and the waves perfect. To be honest, both Anna and I were a bit under the weather with some sort of flu-type bug, but it's not too much hard work just to sit on the beach whilst boosting yourself up with paracetamol!

It was lovely, and I think we are getting closer to having established a pattern for this time of year which will hopefully start to feel as familiar and important as the one we had for the previous 38 years....however, I think in a few year's time we will have to come back to the UK for a proper one....



New Year's Eve was a busier affair. During our last few years in the UK, we had rarely done anything to see the New Year in, sometimes even retiring to bed before midnight. However, when you live in the NYE party capital of the world, what you do that evening is a big deal and a big talking point for weeks in advance. We had decided to do the real thing - to go into the city and watch the fireworks from as close to the action as we could reasonably get (taking into account we had the children with us!). Friends Jason and Julie found a Bavarian Bier Keller in The Rocks (right by the harbour) which could accommodate families and had a bit of entertainment to help keep the children going till midnight and a great time was had by everyone - despite all the predictions of doom and gloom about how difficult it would be to get in and out of the city, and what a nightmare it would all be.



In the event, we successfully parked the car in the Wharf carpark (ooo - you'll never get parked for the ferry....), walked on the first ferry (ooo - you'll have to wait ages till you can get on a ferry...) and successfully found our restaurant, enjoying some of the entertainment on Circular Quay on the way. There were - literally - MILLIONS of people in the city, but the police were out in force, it was very well organised, and the atmosphere was very friendly but definitely inebriated. After our meal and a bit of yodelling and traditional bavarian dancing (think lederhosen and a lot of thigh slapping), we left and successfully found a vantage point away from the main crowds by the water, where we felt the children wouldn't be trampled underfoot, and where we could see the Harbour Bridge very clearly, and watched the best firework display in the world. Definitely an experience not to be forgotten!



Getting home was supposed to also be the stuff of nightmares, but we made our way through the throng, and got on the first ferry we saw for Manly (ooo - you'll wait hours for a ferry home...), picked up our car and went on our way. A great night and no worries, mate...

Another Antipodean Christmas

So here we are, getting ready for our second Christmas in Australia. Can you believe that? In some ways it doesn't feel more than five minutes since we came out here, and in others it's as if we have been here for ever. Certainly life has settled down to normality and generally we no longer feel like we are on holiday all the time.

Having said that though, the last couple of weeks have definitely had something of the vacation feeling to them. The weather has been wonderful, and we've spent a fair amount of time either chilling at the beach or relaxing round our rather luxurious pool. That heavy, warm and tired feeling at the end of a day spent in the sun is definitely something which we all still associate with being on holiday.

The strange bit, of course, is that all this is going is going on when we are also preparing for Christmas. Which feels very odd. Most English people out here struggle to feel very festive, despite enjoying the good weather. Christmas here does not seem to be such a big deal either, and I have theory about that. I think that Christmas is such a massive event in the UK because it is a beacon of hope and fun in the middle of months of dark and dreariness. Imagine the British winter without Christmas! Whereas here, it would be still be sunny and the biggest holiday season of the year.

I decided this year that the way forward was to try to make some australian christmas traditions, rather than trying to emulate the jolly season back at home. I started this by revamping my entire collection of tree decorations, moving away from the traditional red, green and gold, and setting a sort of carnival tone. As you can see from the photo, it works rather well with the sunshine. At the same time, we are having seafood and salads again for the main meal, along with bbq steaks and frankly more food than anyone could possibly eat in one meal. We will be joined by Andrew's parents, Grace and Bob, who are staying with us at the moment, plus friends Nicky and Graham with their 4 children - Joe, Jack, Luke and Chloe. Joe and Jack live in the UK and are over for a visit at the moment.

I think that the thing that I liked best about Christmas in the UK was the stillness, the solemnity and the way the season connected us to ancient times. I loved the dark and the lights and the carols. Here, all that is completely lost. Even at the Christmas service at the children's ( anglican ) school, all the carols were jazzed up. I know it's supposed to be a joyous occasion, but to be honest I find the old style carols a lot more uplifting than jigging along to a barely recognisable version of 'Away in a Manger'.

All that apart, the children are of course still very excited and in fact, Anna is already tucked up in bed waiting for the morning. George will be joining her very shortly, and then Andrew and I will wrap the very last presents and then retire ourselves. So all that remains is to wish you a very wonderful Christmas and a happy and healthy 2009. And I am told that a printed version of this blog is sent up to a Manchester collective of the Chaneys and Penningtons and then circulated. As they are not able to comment, and so never get a special message, this one's for you - a shout out to the Manchester people from The Pettifers Down Under - Merry Christmas!

Good times...bad times...

It's been a tough few weeks.

When we came out here, we thought we had a pretty good idea of which one of our two children would be the most challenged by the experience. Anna was always brimming over with confidence and able to find a friend anywhere. George was more reserved and introspective, and took time to make connections with people. We thought Anna would take it in her stride and George might need more support and nurturing.

How wrong we were......

We've spent the last couple of weeks coming to terms with the fact that Anna is desperately unhappy at school. There have been warning signs. More sickness than usual, and many illnesses appearing on Sunday evening and disappearing once she got to school. A lack of interest in how she looked at school. A declining academic and behavioural record.

Then suddenly a big meltdown. Apparently she hates the school, always has - but didn't want to disappoint us. She doesn't feel at home there and feels that she doesn't fit in.

It's desperate when your children are unhappy. After a few weeks of discussions, and taking advice from professionals, Andrew and I had a worry that had been at the back of our minds confirmed. You might remember that when we arrived here, Anna went into Year 4 - which meant she went up from having 2 school years between her and George to only one. Initially this worked very well, and we felt it had been a good decision. However....this year the older of those girls are over 11 and a half. At just 10 and not 11 till next May, Anna has been struggling to keep up with their level of maturity. At the same time, because these children have been at school for longer than her, she has gone from excelling to being very average. This has been confusing for her, and has knocked her confidence.

Anna is just not old enough for Year 5, and certainly not for Year 6 starting in January.

The result is that we are moving her from the school, and placing her at a local school where she will repeat Year 5. This will give her the opportunity to regain some of the confidence and self belief she has lost, and also get her back in a year group with whom she has more parity in terms of maturity.

Since we have made this decision and sorted it all out, Anna has been like a different child at home. Or at least, she's been more like the child we were used to having around. It's not going to be a bed of roses when she starts at the new school I'm sure, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that we've made the right decision.

On a more positive note, there have been other, happier things going on in Anna's life. Her netball team won the Summer Competition (you will remember they won the winter one as well). They have not been beaten by anyone all year! How amazing is that?? Anna is getting quite a collection of trophies! Also, we went to see her dance school end of year show, and saw Anna dance for the first time. Now I know I am a bit biased - but she's rather good! Next year she will be doing 7 dance classes a week, luckily just down the road, and she is very proud that she will be in a performance team.

It now being the 28th November, we have been waiting with baited breath for a glimpse of George's Nintendo Wii advert, as it was released on the 26th in the States. So far, however, after repeated trawling the web and YouTube, I've not been able to find it. Which is very frustrating. I'll keep looking for it, and as soon as I've located it, I'll put a link on here. And if anyone is in the States and sees it, please do let us know!

Perfection

George has just completed his first ever working week. Well - two days. And I suspect that it will be a long time before he earns that much money in so short a time again. We were very proud of him. He worked hard, was charming, was patient and focussed and never complained, although I know at times it was rather tedious.

It turned out that Nintendo Wii adverts are big budget productions. The director hired was Aaron Ruell, who is both a renowned photographer and director of independent films and an actor who has appeared in a number of Hollywood films, most notably 'Napoleon Dynamite'. He is, apparently, the up and coming man of the moment in the film world. It was, therefore, especially exciting when he asked if he could photograph George for his photographic website (www.aruell.com). He likes unusual looking people and takes very detailed photographs. We'll let you know when the photos are on the site, and that's one of his at the top there.

The actual advert will only be shown on American and Canadian TV, and will be released on 26th November, after which time it should be able to be found on YouTube. Oddly enough, there were 3 children in the commercial, of which two were English. So they were filming an American advert with two little English boys in Australia. The world sure is a small place these days.

It was really fascinating being there. It occurred to me that these days we are so familiar with adverts, films, and tv, and yet what goes into its creation is such a mystery to us. What amazed me most was the attention to detail. Everything had to be absolutely perfect - and this often meant doing things over and over and over again (not easy when you are an active twelve year old boy!). They would take a shot, and then start again because they wanted to move a teacup, or remove a person, or change some item of wardrobe because they didn't feel it was working.

Which brings me to the title of this post. We talk a lot these days about the influence of the media in terms of body image and the pressure to be perfect. We are sold the idea that we should aspire to look like women who are 20 years younger than us, airbrushed and injected, and we are disappointed when we can't keep up. But I realised watching this shoot that the idea of perfection pervades our society far more broadly than that. Through the media we are shown homes which have been styled by interior designers and stylists with no expense spared. Every detail of every thing we see on tv and film has been carefully selected, and then carefully placed in the scene. Nothing is left to chance. Throughout the filming wardrobe and makeup flit on and off the set, smoothing hair which doesn't look out of place to the human eye, straightening collars, pulling down hems and generally ensuring everyone looks picture perfect. Other people move teacups, flowers and other items around until the director and the advertising agency are satisfied. At one point, an extra disappeared and another one replaced him, as the agency had decided they didn't like his look (the poor man was only sitting at a cafe table pretending to talk to a blonde woman. Brutal).

All this creates a lot of pressure on us mere mortals, who are not followed around by make up and wardrobe and set hands. The media sends us the message that we must not only look perfect and be perfect, but our homes and our lives must be perfect too.

No wonder we are all going a bit nuts....

Almost Famous

Enormous excitement in the Pettifer household this week. George got the Nintendo job!

Now, of course, Andrew and I have always felt he was especially beautiful and talented, but it's nice to know someone else thinks so too!

Filming is at Fox Studios in Sydney on Monday and Tuesday, so he also gets a couple of days off school (which obviously George thinks is a huge bonus. He won't still be thinking that once I've produced the huge bundle of school work he will be doing to make sure that he keeps up...).

As a result of George telling all his mates at school, I think his cool quotient is on the up and up. It's been a good couple of days for him - he got the Nintendo job, he scored a distinction in a national computing studies exam (performed in the top 11% nationally) and a girl he likes phoned and asked him over. When you are 12, I don't think it gets much better than that.

We've just been to the studios for a wardrobe call. George's cool quotient started to decline when we found out that they were filming two adverts, and instead of being the nephew in ad 1, George was now the grandson in ad 2. The grandson in ad 2 is from the deep south of America, and before we knew it, George was dressed in denim dungarees and a checkered shirt. There goes any hope of being cool. But wait a minute! It's only being shown in the US. Saved! Or he would be if no one had ever invented the world wide web, and no one ever looked at You Tube...

Nevertheless, George did look very cute, and the directors and everyone else involved were very happy. For a child who is not particularly confident, the session today involved a number of moments where I know he felt very uncomfortable - a wardrobe room with two women and the door wide open (we are no longer permitted to see George in his underwear), and then once he was in his costume, about 7 people came in the room, gathered around him and just looked at him for a really long time. They were all American, and eventually he was pronounced to be 'working it' and they left. George and I giggled. Everyone was very friendly, the atmosphere was very relaxed, and I know it is going to be a very interesting experience for both George and me. There was lovely food too...

Whilst all this has been occupying our thoughts a bit this week, we mustn't forget that Anna has been on school camp to Bathurst - a former goldmining area. We haven't heard much about it just yet, as she is still dreadfully overtired and a bit stroppy. On Friday it was 38 degrees here, and only just about bearable, and it is usually far hotter the further inland you go, so I hate to think what the temperature was there. Everyone is telling us that they are expecting a very hot summer, especially after the rubbish one we had last year. I'm not sure whether to be pleased or not. I know we can cope with up to 38 degrees, but I'm not sure about over 40. Good job we've got good aircon in this house!