The year in review

It seems unbelievable but the year has just about come to an end. We have all seen and learnt so much but it has been a great experience.
During this year, Mitchell has learned to talk and string a sentence together, he knows his letterland alphabet and can count to 12. He still loves his school and is very excited to be going into Preschool 2 next year. He will also start tennis lessons in February which will be very cute. He is still as enamoured with Thomas the Tank Engine as ever and our collection has grown so much that we could run train track continuously through every room in the house!
2009 has been a huge year for Rafi, he has learned to swim thanks to his uncle B and he can play tennis and cricket. He has learned to read and write most small words and can add, subtract and multiply. Rafi has made friends in his school and a few out of it. He is super excited to be going to 'big' school next year and we have bought him his uniform and school bag which he loves.
My other half was so lucky to get a job a few weeks after arriving and even luckier to find something which he really enjoys with great people. Last week he even won a trophy at work for innovation day.
I have had a great year too. One of the best things this year was that with the kids only going to school twice a week, I got to spend lots of time with them. We have explored some of the loveliest parks, playgrounds and beaches together. We have become members of the powerhouse museum which is the kids favourite place with their buildable brick house, interactive displays and their train exhibits it couldn't be better.
We have been to Taronga zoo twice and with this most recent trip, we saw the new baby elephant and baby gorilla. They were very cute. Mitchell loved watching the monkeys swing all over the trees. He also loved the seal show particularly as the biggest seal was named. "Mitchie". Rafi enjoyed the cable car ride over the zoo, despite the fact that it was really windy and we swayed from side to side as we ascended. This daredevil side of him has really grown this year and he had a blast at Luna park, going on the roller coaster and Ferris wheel. Unfortunately all this daring behaviour doesn't always pay off as we got to experience Australian hospitals first hand when Rafi tried to 'fly' from some monkey bars and broke his arm. Luckily it healed beautifully and he is back on the monkey bars, although a lot more cautiously now.
This year we have also done loads of shopping. We had to stock everything in our flat from scratch and also get clothes for the kids as they grew out of them. We learned that you can get huge discounts at almost any electronic or white goods store, just by asking. We learned that some stores mark up the price of their shoes and branded clothes by over 100% and that it is far better to go to the factory outlets for these things. We also found that amazingly in Australia, when people don't want something anymore, they just leave it on the side of the road and apparently old 'box' style TVs are not needed at all because there always seems to be one on the side of every road. We have not yet taken advantage of this pavement style shopping but should anyone happen to leave out any Thomas trains or track ,we would take full advantage ;)
Of course one of the very best things this year has been getting to know my brother, sister-in-law and my two stunningly beautiful nieces. This might sound a bit strange but the age gap between my brother and I is such that he left home when I was just a little bit older than my son, Rafi. Having thus been separated by continents and sea for more than 20 years, it is just unbelievable to get to see him and his family every week. Speaking of family, one of the other highlights this year was going to Melbourne to visit my husband's Aunts and Uncles and the boys got a chance to meet their other Australian cousins. We had a great time and will definitely head that way again.
My best friend Lisa lives in Sydney too with her husband and they have been such amazing support as well and have provided plenty of laughs and brilliant food. For the last nine months or so we have been choosing countries out of a hat and cooking to the theme once a month. It has been so much fun and quite an experience. Of course what makes this so easy is the fact that Sydney is so diverse that an ingredient for just about anything is readily available at the specialist Asian, European, Indian or African food stores.
We have found the cost of things here took a lot of getting used to as some of the prices seemingly make very little sense. For instance, lamb is very cheap but fruit is very expensive. A punnet of blueberries can cost more than a ready cooked chicken, and a 2l cola is very often cheaper than the 500ml version. Eating out is super cheap at take away places but the drinks can cost more than the food. (sushi roll $2, cola $3.50)
But like anything else, you get used to it and we never think of converting the prices anymore. Weirdest of all is that some shops are self service, you buy the groceries, swipe them yourself at the till and pay with your card. It seems like such an opportunity for duplicity but strangely enough I have never heard of anyone being anything but honest with these tills.
Rentals get paid weekly, as does child care, but water and electricity is quarterly. Petrol prices fluctuate daily with Tuesdays seeming to be the cheapest and Fridays the most expensive. The area you buy petrol in also has an impact and it is sometimes worth it to leave your area to fill your tank as you can get a huge saving by shopping around (although you have to weigh this up with how much petrol you are spending in getting to the further station). Public transport here is great. The trains run regularly as do the buses and the ferries. In fact this reminds me of something interesting we found out just last weekend. We were looking at wiki maps, trying to decide what to do that day and then right near our house we saw a sign saying Woollhara station. Knowing full well that there is no station at the end of or road (or so we thought), we looked into it and apparently there was indeed a station built around the corner from us. It was completed and ready to run but there was a huge campaign by the residents of the area about it because of the noise and the low level of public transport users (statistics showing that most people had cars). Anyway special bricks and noise reducing barriers were erected making the train hum rather than choo choo through the area but the residents were not satisfied and so the project was abandoned leaving a rather derelict but fully built train station abutting some very fancy houses. We went to go and have a look and the kids were very excited to see the humming train as it passed by. Poor husband it would have been a much nearer walk to the train station.
Anyway this week we are going to the moonlight cinema to see Julie and Julia. The moonlight cinema is an outdoor movie at Centennial park and should be lots of fun. Hopefully we are going to be able to see the beautiful fireworks over the Sydney harbour bridge on New Years Eve and then we shall be ready to embrace 2010 and all that it brings.
Wishing you all a very happy New Year!