australia Archives - Everything's Famtastic

January 23, 2020November 5, 2021

9 Surprising Benefits of Cooking with Your Kids

Man, oh, man! This week has been an entirely different one to the last. Last week I was home with an ill Master 6 the whole week. My little guy is healthy and back at kindy and bouncing off the walls again (er, unsure whether the second thing is positive or not) and I have had some time to get back into the swing of keeping things here under control. Or at least, that’s my illusion and I’m sticking to it! 😉

While my son is busy burning off excess energy, I am burning off some energy too, both the physical and mental kind. Physical, because one of my goals for the year was to hit the gym twice a week and I can proudly report back: so far so good.

And the mental energy? I am reworking my sewing space! After a couple of trips to Ikea, you know, “just to pick up a couple of things” 😉 and coming home with new bedsheets, a cutlery drawer insert and some magazine holders, I also bought a new shelf and storage system for my sewing area. So plans are being hatched about how to use the space most effectively and let me get back into my favourite hobby *evil laugh while tapping fingertips together*. I am VERY excited! Stay tuned, I will be showing off the results shortly.

But as we all know, being a mother is rarely “about me” and this post is no different. What we ALL are getting excited about is: this weekend. This coming Sunday, January 26^th, is Australia Day!

Australia Day, Australia, Australian kids clothing

Yes, this Australia Day I will be baking, not partying. But the kids are BUSTING not only to be able to eat lamingtons again but also to help make them. And we do like creating fun food in the kitchen together. Especially treats like these 🙂.

Wait! What? You didn’t know Australia had a national holiday? And you don’t know what lamingtons even are?!? Ok, let me go back a few steps…

January 9, 2020June 26, 2021

Is All of Australia on Fire?!? What Australians Abroad are Worried About.

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Hellooooo! Here we meet again, on the other side of New Year’s Eve! Happy New Year! Welcome to 2020 and your new decade 😊.

Last week I was so pumped up, so excited to think about the past year and write down some concrete plans for how I wanted my 2020 to look. I wrote all about how I’ll be having a great year here, do you remember? Now my questions for YOU: did you do that activity I recommended, about writing down 10 proud achievements from last year and 10 new goals for this year? If you did, well then *big hug* for you. What’s on your list? Are you excited about it too? If you didn’t, well don’t fret. There’s 51 weeks of the year left for you to work on your goals 😉.

I am absolutely serious about my intentions to have a brilliant 2020. But there is also a flip side to all celebrations and festivities at this time of year, despite me throwing around words like “brilliant” and “great” and “pumped up”.

I am Australian but have been living in Germany with my German Hubby for 14 years now. And Germany is a looooong way from Australia, right?…

That means every Christmas and New Year we can spend with only one half of our families and friends; either the Aussie ones or the German ones here. And of course, a hot, summery Australian Christmas spent outdoors is an entirely different thing to a cold German winter one!

I have written quite a few posts before about the internal conflicts experienced by most expats (including myself!), such as this one here, but this time of year can definitely be a bit tougher for us expats so far from “home”. Living in a foreign country may sounds glamorous and fascinating, but not every real life day is like that 😉. (Don’t let social media fool you 😉.) Even more than the usual fluctuating, mildy homesick, funk over Christmas and New Year has been affecting me these last weeks though.

Why? Because my “home” is burning. And I can’t be there.

australia, bushfires, fire warning map, nsw fires, nsw rfs, new york times, kangaroo, wildlife — You’ve probably seen this photo in every newspaper article and on all your social media the last days.
Photo Credit: Matthew Abbott for The New York Times.

Sounds odd, maybe? Why would I want to be where those fires are and not a million miles away?!?

February 3, 2019June 26, 2021

Reality Bites Back

Here we are at the start of February! How’s the year going for you already? My January went pretty much as I had imagined it, with a few unavoidable hiccups not of my doing. But all in all, a pretty good start to the new year.

As you may have read in my last couple of posts here and here about what it’s like for an expat to return home to visit, I actually spent almost all of January in summery Australia, my birthplace. The boundless blue skies, the hot sunny days, drinking wine with friends and family, regular visits to the beach… *swoon*

Departures

I say “almost” all of January, because my trip Down Under came to it’s inevitable end last week. So, after a blessed 5 weeks in Australia catching up with family and friends and mood-enhancing, Vitamin D-filled sunshine, the plane- and my accompanying tears- departed Sydney airport last Friday. The trip between Germany and Australia is one of the longest you can actually experience anywhere in the world (Germany to New Zealand would probably be the winner).

January 27, 2019June 26, 2021

My Down Under- The Good, the Not So Good and the Ugly

Just last week I posted about Reverse Culture Shock where I talked about my (and most repatriates’) feelings of returning to my “home country”.

In a way it was a difficult post to write, as it required quite a lot of introspection and carefully-planned wording. Speaking about travelling and relocating and returning brings with it a rollercoaster of emotions and memories. Some great, some not so good and some painful. Not only for me, the writer, but I imagine also for a lot of readers who have been or are still going through a similar phase.

You know that saying “Home is where the Heart is”? But what if you have TWO homes?

January 20, 2019June 26, 2021

It’s Like Culture Shock, But in Reverse

As you probably already noticed, I was missing in action for a few weeks. This was because my family and I (all 5 of us!) flew from Germany back to Australia to celebrate Christmas last month! I am still here in Australia and thought “Hey! Why not keep on writing about my experiences here?!?”. And so I shall…

Pin, Pinterest, expat life, reverse culture shock, repatriation, tips, help, Australian, Germany, culture, plane, travel

I LOVE being back in Australia. There are so many awesome things about being here: my entire extended family, old friends, the weather, the hot summers, the long, sandy beaches, foods of my childhood, restaurants serving awesome, international-flavoured delights, driving on the left (yes, left!) side of the road, I can speak English all the time and be understood, the cute and furry native animals, the wide open blue skies …

But, and this is a big BUT… it is not entirely easy or without complication coming back here. And I am not talking about the humdrum yet stressful things like: How the hell can we afford to fly there? or Seriously, will we be able to fit everything in the suitcases? or Is the school going to really reject our request for the girls to miss the last couple of days of school?

expat life, reverse culture shock, repatriation, tips, help, Australian, Germany, culture, airport, Sydney — Welcome Home! But which home?

No, I mean the practical and emotional effects of

January 13, 2019June 26, 2021

The Expat Returns for Christmas: Celebrating Christmas in Australia

Helloooooo!! It has been too long since I put up a proper post here on Everything’s Famtastic. I did briefly explain my reasons why here but basically, my family and I flew from Germany back to my native soil Australia for Christmas.

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Now since I am talking about it, allow me to fill you in to what it’s like to celebrate Christmas in Australia (at least in my family) and what it’s like if you are a returning expat with a multicultural bilingual family to boot. *phew!* That was a long sentence 😉

I love Christmas time. And I especially love that our family has tried to include traditions from both the German side and the Australian side, no matter which country we happen to be celebrating in. Naturally the kids think it’s BRILLIANT that the Christmas celebrations never seem to end. German traditions, Australian traditions, immediate family, extended family, food, presents… Seriously, Christmas in our family of 5 can last several days.

Fun Fact #1: December in Australia is SUMMER.

Did I just say that?!?

January 9, 2019June 26, 2021

Back in the Game

Wowsers! It really has been a long time since I was here. I have been missing in action for a few weeks. Waay too long! But how nice is it to be back in the game, posting again?!? I really have missed it.

So why was I MIA for nearly a month? (Man, a month…). Do you remember just the other week many of us across the planet celebrated that little holiday called Christmas? Already seems like an eon ago, right?

Well, as you may know already, I am an expat. Specifically, I am an Australian living in Germany with my German Hubby and our 3 kids. And what do many expats scattered around the world do at special times of the year? Travel back home! I’ll give you a gold star if you can guess where we spent this past Christmas…

emu, wildlife, bird, Australia, Australian wildlife, expat life, travel — Say “G’day!” to the locals in Australia