Election and School Day

We have seen our last visitor leave on Monday and life returns to normal - or as normal as can be here in hotdog land. I'll get the bad news done with first but you all know how the election turned out. We had some friends over to watch the results come in and it was seriously a very sad night - we kept flicking the 200 channels to find one with good news but unfortunately, the writing was on the wall by midnight. We all finished up and went to bed in a numb shock. Needless to say, the next day was quite sombre in DC - it's a democrat town and people took the day off work or came in late and just sat there looking like zombies. We felt like we backed the losing horse in an un-losable race. But, Hillary isn't Phar Lap and Trump romped in with a big win albeit controversial. Although Hillary got more 'popular' votes overall than Trump, Trump won more seats across the states. You win all seats in the state if you have the majority votes in the state. The states are weighted differently so he won the high numbered seat states while she only one the small numbered seat states. The same outcome saw Bush beat Al Gore in 2000. It's similar in Australia, some states have more/less members in the House of Reps and Beasley got more votes than Howard in the 1998 election but still lost the election due to the seat counting and coalition. But you have to note that both Trump and Hillary got about 50 million votes each so it was close. And only half the country voted so overall, it's a pretty shitty outcome for the US and the world.

Moving on to nicer things, I went on a city lights tour with a friend who stayed overnight on Sunday. It was really pretty and I took note so that we can do drive around ourselves and see the memorials and sights at night. It was a clear night, a bloody cold night and the tour was pretty good. The tour guide was called Mr. Holiday - got to be a joke. I always learn something new on tours. This night it was about the President's plane - Air Force One which it's called (One) when the current president is onboard. When he's not on board, it goes by it's tail number 28,000 or 29,000 (as there are two aircraft in the fleet). After a presidential inauguration resulting in a change in office, the outgoing president is provided transport on a VC-25 aircraft to their home destination. The aircraft for this flight does not use the Air Force One call sign because it is not carrying the president in office. For both Presidents Clinton and GW Bush the flight was known as Special Air Mission 28000, where the number represents the aircraft's tail number. Same happened when plane flew deceased Reagan and Ford to Washington for their state funerals.

I have come to greatly admire both President Abe Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr during my time here. The tour stopped at both their memorials and I was able to recognise more features of the memorial given our travels to Gettysburg and the South where both of these men have played a significant role in history. We also went to the US Marine Corp Memorial or often referred to as the Iowa Jima Memorial. I never knew the story of Iowa Jima but now I do. I might watch the movie now but suffice to say, I can appreciate why this memorial is so important.

 

This week I was asked to do a presentation to a school class on Australia. Each year, the Embassies are allocated a school to work with in an effort to teach them about a foreign country. I went to the final presentation by a school in May but we now have a new school. So I put on my Aussie shirt, an Akubra-like hat, RM Williams boots and my best Aussie slang accent and talked to the kids about Australia's features, climate, history, money, cities and animals. It was a great morning. I had a cricket bat and ball and found myself thinking I was Steve Irwin. So after jumping around like I was chasing crocodiles, the kids tell me they don't know Steve Irwin - uh oh. They were probably not born when he died back in 2006. Never mind, I made up for it by doing my best cockatoo screech, kookaburra laugh and emu bob walk. I was entertaining to say the least, a bit of an idiot but at least I held their young attention spans. I taught them to say G'day mate and See ya later mate. Very cute. 

They asked lots and lots of questions - I was surprised how many given they have only just started learning about Australia. The funniest question I got was 'How long did it take you to learn that accent?'. Another kid yells out 'I really love your accent' in his best little US drawl. He could listen to it all the time apparently !! I taught them Crikey and told them what a 'dunny' was. They were shocked how old Queen Elizabeth was and asked 'how long will she be Queen?'. Good question I thought - if only we knew the answer also. One kid asked me if I had a computer - I must have looked bloody old to him. They loved the cricket bat and ball, kangaroos and joey's and koalas (which I had to remind them are NOT in fact bears). I told them crocodiles were dangerous, man eaters and would kill them. So one kid had to clarify what would happen if he stood on one - run fast I said. And then they asked if crocodiles really run and how fast. The questions kept coming. And this one stumped me when we talked about the little Tassie Devil....'is the devil's neck really thick so that animals can't bite it?' Hmm, that's one for that little kid to research for her assignment.  Google just tells me that the Tasmanian devil's large head and neck allow it to generate among the strongest bites per unit body mass of any extant mammal land predator. Apparently they can bite through thick wire. I will be sure to tell the little girl next time I see her (in Dec at the morning tea with them).

Well the weather has quickly become cold, down to about 3 degrees (celsius) overnight and cool during the days. Cricket now wears his coat and the leaves are falling heavily in the forest - really pretty. I can see the dogs better now the trees are thinning and I can hear them rustling through the leaves. We crossed the creek the other day and I thought it was too cold to swim but no, not too cold for them. But they didn't swim and we just kept walking.

A friend told us about a TV show called 11.22.63 which is date format for 22 Nov 63 which is the day JFK was assassinated. It's about a guy who finds a time portal in the back of diner that takes him back to the same day in 1960. The story is based on a Stephen King novel and is about this guy who goes back to prevent the assassination of JFK as he believes the world would be a better place if he lives. Anyway, can't say anymore but we had a binge session and watched the eight episodes. It was great - so look it up and watch it.

We are now catching up with Blacklist, The Americans and Elementary as the previous seasons are on Netflix or whatever cyber thing Deb's got us connected to.

Thanksgiving is next week and we are yet to be adopted - I'm working on it though