Lori visits Pattycam.net

Lori and Pattycam met up today, see lots of pics here on the Blog!

Hello America

Hi everyone it's me Audrey! For all my friends in America, I'm just dying to know how the first days of middle school went! Did you get lost, was the food good, did you make new friends, EVERYTHING!!! As you can see, I finally am posting posts if that makes sense... I just had a middle school dance and they played loud music(including Pump It, Kaela) they had strobe lights and it went from 7:00pm-10:00pm. when I got home my feet, ears and head hurt But I had tons of fun. PLEASE COMMENT my friends I miss you!

Audrey

Lori Update #6

All the latest news from your favorite newest Aussie! Go here to listen.

Monday was Moving day.....

.....AGAIN!! .....Still Smiling.....through it all!!

We moved from the VUE apartments. We really enjoyed our time there. The apartment was decorated in a modern style and had a terrific view of the Brisbane River.

Tribulations of moving frequently: Having to navigate my way to/from apartment/train station/school/work route efficiently/effectively. Locating the nearest Woolworth's or Coles (grocery stores).

Jubilations of moving frequently: Fewer belongings than we've had in years and able to get along nicely with so little. Getting to see a different section of Brisbane/broadening our knowledge of the Refidex!

We will be in our current location until our furniture arrives. This apartment has a gorgeous view of the eastern sky and will afford a lovely sunrise. It is estimated that the arrival date of the furniture will be late September into the middle of October. We received our 1st shipment today (Tues). Mark and I got it unpacked, washed the dishes and cookware, and started laundering the clothes and bedding. We decided to wash everything because of the shipment having to go through Customs/Quarantine and it is standard that they use fumigation.

The "To Do" list's urgent needs have been attended to: schooling, temp. housing, and transport. Quite an accomplishment! Thanks to all our local guardian angels for their roles in this endeavor **hooray, high-fives, slaps-on-backs**

Next to be tackled is to get take on the healthcare system. I need to get an appointment with an ENT physician, as I have another sinus infection!! I figured I was living on borrowed time since my arrival to Australia. Mark is fairly certain that we should be able to use the Private Health care system since we are insured with a U.S. provider and not using the Australian Public Health care system. In my search for an ENT, I'll also be keeping an eye out for a general practitioner, dentist, and optometrist.

Upcoming events: 9 days until RiverFest begins! This is a celebration of the people, culture and evironment of Brisbane. This is held over 10 days, we hope to see the RiverFire (a fireworks display choreographed to music. Check out this link: for more info! http://www.riverfestival.com.au

Take care all!!

First Day of School!

It was a great day for the girls as they went off to their new school. We all walked to the train station from our apartment. The train ride was only 5 stops away, brief yet enjoyable. We arrived in plenty of time for a short walk to the school. Emily and Mark went to meet with her year coordinator to find out who her Form teacher was (similar to a homeroom teacher), get this his name is Mr. Rushmore. Mark and Emily had a little giggle and had to explain the inside joke. (For Aussie readers, this is the name of the Elementary School that both girls attended in the states) Shortly, thereafter, Emily was on her way and Mark joined me at Audrey's class. They were putting together an improptu welcoming party! Cookies, err um, bikkies were served as well as a cordial (basically KoolAid). Audrey was encircled by her new classmates and was made to feel very welcome! Mark and I met her teacher briefly, before the class had to retreat into their classroom for the day's activities! No tears at all! Ok,.....I did get misty eyed at the thoughtfulness of her new classmembers, but I was "mature" and didn't go into an ugly cry!

As we had purchased a car the day before at Beecham Motors (a Holden Commodore Acclaim VZ---GREAT CAR---Thanks Chris B.!!), I drove Mark to work and dropped him off for the day. I had a plan for my free time! I stopped at the Indro mall for a massage! It was not a spa-type massage, but rather a trigger point relief massage (probably a more accurate name for it in the business, but that's how I've named it). After relieving several trigger points in my shoulders and lower back, I received some acupuncture for some (hopefully) relief of sinus pressure headaches. Maybe I can add this into my sinus infection regimine!

Time to pick up a few groceries (they have a full grocery store in most of the malls here!, convenient!) Not really enough time to go back to the apartment, only an hour until the girls get out of class, so I drove the short distance from the mall to their school and parked for a few minutes.

Met up with the girls. They both had a really nice first day. Emily had a couple of girls who showed her to her first class, then directed her towards her next class. She had good feedback about most of her day. There's got to be some teenage complaints along the way, though! Wouldn't be a normal kid if there wasn't, right? She wasn't too thrilled with a lecture on self-esteem, not to worry though every week the topic changes---so will the grumblings, I bet!

Audrey had a good day as well. Her class is in between normalcy at the moment. At the same time they are preparing for the Australian version of Achievement testing (YIKES, can't get away from it!---hmmmm, maybe I can volunteer my help with interventional tutoring and data base management---sound familiar?). Audrey will not be required to take these tests, so she used the time that they were reviewing to begin to read the book that the class is reading. She polished off 6 chapters today (then read another 6 later that evening) and will be able to participate in discussions tomorrow.

They both told stories of how the students had questions about the U.S. and where intrigued by their accents! Lots of fun around the dinner table listening to their tales of the day. Can't wait for tonight's installments.

More very soon!!

Hugs and kisses to everyone back in the states!! Have fun in AL Mom, Ron, Marj & Ryley!

Hugs and kisses also to our great extended family in the South!!

If anybody has any particular questions about life here in Brisbane, don't hesitate to post a comment! I'll do my darndest to find the answer, if not I know the Brisbanite readers of this blog will be ready with an answer if I don't know it!

XOXOXOXOX

Today on our To Do List

We are going to a car dealership north of the city (it comes highly recommended by one of my Brisbane Guardian Angels!) to seek out some wheels, man. We'll then take advantage of being out of the city and it being a Brisbane Holiday (Ekka Day=State Fair=everyone off or out of school) to FINALLY go to one of Australia's numerous picturesque beaches. Yes, we'll use sunscreen ala Slip, Slop, Slap and we'll be between the red flags.

Ok, Slip Slop Slap means slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a hat!

Swim between the flags means that life guards are on duty.

Until next time.........

Next Great Commenters!!

!!!Mom, Jan & Johnno (whose commented several times, oops, my bad!)!!!

Thanks to you!! Keep the questions about Australia coming! Jan asked about the libations and cuisine. Once we are at our next domicile we will have high speed internet access and I will be able to flood this site with pictures---watch out!!

Woot, woot!!

!!!!Hurray for Aimee, Brian, Della, Chris and Patty!!!!

Who will be the next family/friend to comment?

Settled in again (?)

Hi again everyone!

We are UNPACKED for 8 days while we are in a near downtown serviced apartment. Nothing against Ipswich, but we are happy to be back in Brisbane. Our unit has a view of the Brisbane river off our lounge and deck. In the neighborhood is Suncorp Stadium and currently the Brisbane Broncos are playing. We'll do more exploring later today, just catching our breath!

Thanks to Ross Cutogno for providing a wonderful home for us to stay in for over a week. If anyone reading this needs a place to stay in Brisbane, we'd highly recommend At Home On Broadway as a very comfortable place to stay. You are in your OWN house, no sharing of facilities, in a nice neighborhood, with everything you'd need just a walk or short drive away!

Come on friends and family---don't by shy----you can comment, you can contribute! Let's hear from you too!!

More from the Hagenmaier's later!!

Brisbane film clip for tourists

A friend of mine found this on the net (it's amazing what's out there, eh?) Hope you enjoy this look at Brisbane.

Lori in Brisbane, update

How is the family coping with the different changes in Brisbane life? Find out here... (Yes, I missed the intro, sorry, I slept in, my bad!) *wink

Where are the comments?

Hey friends and family!!

Give us some comments!!

We really want to hear from you!!

Click on the word "comment" and fill in the blanks and follow the directions.

Come on you can do it!!

Aussie firefighters set to help US

A team of 45 Australian and New Zealand firefighters are set to fly to the United States to help battle wild blazes burning out of control in the western part of the country.

The contingent, which consists of firefighters from Victoria, Western Australia, NSW and the ACT, will first travel to the US national interagency fire centre at Boise, Idaho, for orientation before being deployed to Idaho, Oregon, Washington State and Montana.

It follows a request for assistance from the US after extreme fire conditions.

This is the fourth time since 2000 that fire team leaders from Australia and New Zealand have been deployed there.
"The Americans have seen first hand the support we have provided in the past, and they know that our expertise is fighting forest fires," Mr Sneeuwjagt said.

US fire leaders came to Victoria's aid in the 2003 Alpine fires.

What have we been doing?

Hi everyone!

We have spent the past 5-6 days in search of our next place to stay for 2-3 months. We didn't arrange for this online as we wanted to see the property and its location relative to Mark's work. We also did not know where the girls would be going to school. The school decision is still up in the air, but we have the options narrowed down. Hopefully in the next few days that will be known. The Brisbane area is a competitive housing market. They receive between 1500-2000 new residents a week! The interest rate on mortgages was just raised recently which drives more people into the rental market. Those two facts alone make for finding the ideal place even trickier. We are doing quite a bit of looking online and when we find something interesting we contact the listing agent and arrange a showing. We went to see a house one day that was nice, but the bedrooms were too small and the overall size of the home was inadequate, besides it was unfurnished. This might have been a candidate for our long term home, but with the size of the bedrooms--it just wouldn't do. We went to look at an apartment that was fully furnished, but the owner was looking for a 6 month lease. Mark pointed out some options to the agent to be proposed to the owner. We should hear back about that today. We stopped into a real estate office yesterday. Thier current listings did not have anything to fit our needs, but the rental agent returned with the news of a house that was vacated the day before, was available only until Oct. 1 and the owner was told it was highly unlikely they would have anyone interested in the place----then in we walk!! We got the address of the house (within the commute for schools and work) and did a drive by. Great location, great neighborhood, but it is unfurnished---maybe, just maybe the owner will be able to furnish it. Keep your fingers crossed and whatever else may bring this "deal" to our family.

In amongst all the housing research and viewing, we have attended school open houses, stopped by Mark's "office", gone out to eat A LOT, opened a local bank account, went to the Indooroopilly Shopping Centre and the Queen Street Mall. While at the Queen Street Mall the girls spotted Strike Bowling. We said yes to some family fun time. It is a bowling alley, but it has hip and happenin' music, black lights, comfy seating and was quite fun. We had parked in the garage of the Treasury Casino, so the girls were quite giggly when we had to walk through the building for use of the garage. (We never went into the actual casino, only saw the slot machines through windows while walking outside the building)

We are getting around the city fairly easily (now!). Patty and Jen each gave us a Refidex. What is a Refidex, you ask? It is a detailed telephone-book-sized publication of street maps. VERY USEFUL!! Not to insult my new home, but the road signage is not what we are used to in the U.S. We've made a lot of U-turns (which for the most part are permitted, do you think they realize that their roads are confusing?!?) or come up with new routes to get to our destination. It provides a wonderful opportunity for advanced map reading skills!

We have seen the CBD in all times of the day. What's my favorite? Has to be the view from Kangaroo Cliffs on a brilliantly sunny day(thanks Spencer and 612ABC). It mirrors my opinion of our opportunity here in Brisbane, "The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades" !

Pictures are coming, I promise, we've just been so busy with the business of things.

Some random observations: It's wintertime and the trees and flowers are pretty, what is spring going to bring? The birds' calls--totally different, more interesting. Full flush/half flush--good idea! Light switches--up means off, down means on. Some stores eggs are not in the fridge section (per Mark, chickens don't put them in the fridge either!) Straight & wide roads, where are you? (my suspicion, the outback).

Showing Lori the Sights Part 1

Showing Lori's family the sights of Brisbane, starting with am early morning sunrise over the city form Mount Coot-tha, (pronounced COOTHA).

Listen here...

Showing Lori the Sights Part 2

Showing Lori's family the sights of Brisbane, at Kangaroo Point. (How Aussie do we get, eh?) *nudge, lol.

Listen here....

www.pattycam.net the site that began it all!

I'm not sure how I ever found www.pattycam.net but it was the website that I returned to time and time again to take a peek at Australian life. It was an American mom of 2 girls observing an Australian mom of 2 boys. I watched and tried to learn for quite awhile from Patty's complex website of Australian life before I reached out to her to let her know that my family would be coming for a 2 year stay. Patty immediately responded to my numerous questions with warmth and generosity. Her website, pattycam.net, has great links and features on it that I used A LOT to try to familiarize myself with Brisbane life. To see views of Brisbane in person in the past few days that I have oggled at for over a year is surreal to say the least.

THANK YOU PATTYCAM.NET AND HELLO TO ALL IT'S MEMBERS!!!

What we did in Brisbane today!

Got everyone up for the 2nd interview with 612ABC. We were picked up by Skipper and taken to the top of Mt. Coot-tha for the sunrise and an interview on the radio via a cell phone call. The listeners called in their suggestions for our 2nd destination which would be told only to our driver! We had time to stop in Milton at The Coffee Club (has a mini Eiffel tower on it) for hot chocolate and hot mocha. Our next desination was revealed to us 30 seconds before arrival. It was at Kangaroo Point! The best vantage point to see the central business district (CBD) skyline. Brisbanites are SO fortunate for the city they live in. It is as I've said ad nauseum, SPECTACULAR!! We had a second interview with Spencer and chatted with Skipper a few minutes before he drove us back to our house. The 3rd and (final?) interview is "spenciled" in for next Friday. We'll see what 612ABC has up their sleeves for this totally undeserving, but appreciative midwestern US family.

Spencer adopts US family

Every seven minutes a new person moves to Queensland. That’s 1500 new Queenslanders each week.

612ABC Brisbane has 'adopted' one United States family that has relocated to Brisbane this week. And Breakfast presenter Spencer Howson has made it his personal mission to ensure the Hagenmaier family feel welcome and settle in happily.

There’s mother and father Lori and Mark, and their two daughters, Audrey, 11, and Emily, 15. Mark’s work has brought them halfway across the world, from Ohio to Brisbane, for a two-year stay.

Audrey and Emily are keen to make the most of Queensland’s beaches, while Mark and Lori have their minds occupied by the practical matters of finding a home and school for their daughters.

Discussing her impressions of Australia, Lori says Australia is "an absolutely marvellous country of very gracious people with spectacular sights and sounds."

More here...

Drop Bears - Warning from Australia

Drop Bears - The Truth


For those of you who do not know the history of Drop Bears in Australia, I will tell it, so much as I know, as a warning to you and your family.

Origin

In the beginning, there were koalas. Cuddly, furry, slow-moving and sleepy, koalas eat gum leaves for 90% of their waking lives, but prefer to spend most of their time asleep. They live in trees, venturing down to the ground only when it is necessary to move from tree to tree. Koalas are no threat to humans, unless you are foolish enough to climb up a tree and attempt to catch one, under which circumstances the koala may give you a bit of a scratch with its ample claws.

You will be aware that Australia is home to many species that simply don't exist anywhere else in the world. Echidnas, wombats, koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, bandicoots and potoroos are unique to Australia, just to name a few. Another unique animal is the Drop Bear.

Description

The Drop Bear is described as an arboreal, (tree dwelling) carnivorous mammal of Australia, Phascolarctus Hodgsonii, growing to around 4 feet in height. This description is not far wrong. Believed to have evolved from a similar line to koalas, Drop Bears vary from 3 to 5 feet in hight, but are extremely strong. They are covered in a dense fur, which can range from almost black to the Alpine Drop Bear's snowy white coat. They have broad shoulders and razor sharp claws on all four limbs. They are able to walk for short distances on two legs, but are much faster on all four, being capable of bursts of speed approaching 60 km/h at full gallop. Their heads are similar to those of koalas, but with enlarged canine teeth, not unlike those of bears or other carnivorous animals.

More here....

Meeting Lori at the airport - follow-up

Second follow-up review when we met Lori at the airport, here.

We made it to Brissy!....

.....and WOW what a greeting we received at the airport! Patty and Spencer Howson (presenter of the Breakfast show at 612 ABC radio--my FAVORITE station down under) greeted us as we exited the plane. {I suppose an explanation is definitely needed to clarify why on earth I was interviewed on the radio. Patty Beecham (my friend I met online) is a former correspondent for 612 ABC she and Spencer arranged for the interview this morning at 6:30 a.m.--the interest is an American family coming to Australia and how we see/adjust to things. They also came to the airport to greet us--Spencer presented us with a goodie bag from the station that included 612 ABC ball caps, cds, dvds, books, market bags, radios--to listen to our new fav station!} Patty of course snapped the pics! After we collected ALL the bags AGAIN from baggage claim and loaded everything on the smartcartes one more final time, we all left the airport in search of our ride to the Bed & Breakfast. Our ride was provided graciously by two American moms who've been here for several months. We met Jen (whose husband is here with USAF at an Aussie base in Brisbane) and Carmen (whose hubby is here with Boeing) in front of the airport. We said so long to Patty and Spencer then headed off in search of the At Broadway B & B.

Jen and Carmen--what a pair---thanks for navigating through Brisbane and getting us to the B & B. Ross (the proprietor) was waiting for us at the spectacular Queenslander-style house. He showed us around the place top to bottom, inside and out! He is a firefighter with the Brisbane FD and has started this enterprise in his extra time. He along with Patty, Spencer, Jen and Carmen made for the WOW! in our arrival to Brisbane. Patty had stopped by the B&B before coming to the airport and dropped off an AMAZING supply of goodies in a basket, some supplies for the pantry and fridge, as well as 2 BEAUTIFUL floral arrangements. WE FEEL SO SPOILED!!! The B & B is beautiful and very charming. Check out the link for "our" place for a week. http://www.athomeonbroadway.com.au/main.htm

Well that's it for now--I've got a lot to catch you all up on over the next few posts--until then please know that we are doing fine and miss you all very much!

Lori's welcoming song!

This song is to welcome Lori and her family to our shores, and to our lovely tropical city of Brisbane. I will only have it up for the day, tommorrow is another day. Enjoy! *speakers up!

LORI ON BRISANE RADIO

Listen to Lori's first interview with Spencer Howson on Brisbane ABC Radio. Woot!