O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum ... Wie treu sind deine Blätter^[*]

And that's the extent of my German. Ooo I lie, I can also shout "der ist mein Hamburger!". Helpful if you are the Hamburgler, otherwise not so practical. Luckily we experienced Germans with exceptional English when we were in Berlin. Speaking of which, Berlin was an experience of a life time, and I don't say that just because it was YDG's bday city. Talk about perspective! You will certainly get a dose of it, and THEN SOME in Berlin. It was also the city I met a member of Marissa's Golden Hand of 5, i.e. top 5 most impressive people.



1) The gang standing outsdie the Reichstag (German Parliament House) where there sits a clear dome above the parliamentary chamber. This is meant to embody the idea of transparent demoracy as visitors can view down the chamber where their elected representatives debate, i.e. people over politicians and hence the supremacy of demoracy.

2) The Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of Germany's unity.

3) Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp with the words "work will set you free". This was an amazing experience.

4) Fragments of the Berlin Wall


Anyway, it is Christmas Day! YAY! I am big fan of xmas. It's not everyday you get to spend an entire day with family being merry and jolly. It's heart warming to see collective smiles. This year we are hosting an extended family affair. The house has spent xmas eve preparing, prepping, cleaning, moving, cooking, steaming etc etc. It wasn't too bad. I at least got the opportunity to mock Mindy's satay sticking abilities. They are terrible. Amazingly, we will have approx 20 presents under the tree. This is an amazing feat for this household.

Everybody should be happy HAPPY today ... so have a wonderful christmas everybody.


_______________________

^[*]
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, Your branches green delight us.

"Go Get Some Perspective"

A few of my closest friends have been imploring my conscience to "get some perspective". They haven't quite reached the stage of using starving kids of Ethiopia/Uganda or other such third world countries as comparators, but I sense that it may come to that soon through sheer exasperation.

I am grateful for having friends that have personas that are the direct antithesis to mine. I don't think I could ever be friends with myself. It would be a chore.

Went to the phsyio the other day. Turns out I need to get an xray of my neck - think he is concerned that the pain is still sticking around despite the passing of a year and a half. I am more concerned with the fact that every time I go to this physio, I am always ALWAYS wearing some dodgy undergarment. It's rather embarrassing. Just like that time when I was talking ever-too-loudly on the bus about something rather personal - the guy sitting in front of us turns around and says "you should make it into a movie".

I was mortified.

Bruised, Battered and Boohoo

Bruised & Battered
Port Macq Touch State Competition came and went. As expected, we lost every game, the worse result being against the No. 2 seeded team (Port Macquarie) 15 tries to 1. Nevertheless, I enjoyed: wearing those hideous 'groooowl' pants; getting hideous tan lines (now looking like a leper due to onset of peel-age); suffering from, at one stage, 6 injuries (who's counting) including major groin issues; being subject to racial slurs such as "half of Chinatown is here", to which I responded, "its Japan!". No doubt these Liverpool kids are too ignorant to appreciate the nuance between nips and chinks. Throw in gooks and it would be equivalent to educating them about Einstein's special relativity theory.

The weekend was lots of fun, I learnt a whole heap about the game of touch and hopefully managed to secure permanent physio treatments moving foward - thanks Lynette. The sense of solidarity within a team is always a nice fuzzy feeling, and I am glad I was able to participate in such an experience.

Here's a picture of our coach Robbo (his name is not Robert) and the girls. For more photos, click here.



Boohoo
The 'boohoo' bit of this entry is that today was my manager/mentor's last day. Indeed an inauspicious occasion, but perhaps this will prove to be the impetus for the next little step.


I have gone doraemon mad

Port Macq Here we Come

Tumultuous! Tumultuous! Tumultuous week!
And it ends perfectly with 3 days of attrition on the touch footy field where mutual feelings of enmity will be played out in 25 minute games (no stoppage). Was intending to go on a week long cleansing diet to prepare my desperately ineffectual body, but that ploy came to a grinding halt when someone baked cookies and Sesame Street decided to bring me the letters P M & S.

If only Van Nguyen was a woman, I think his pleas of clemency may have had better chances. With the recent upsurge in the newbread of sexy, minx-like female criminals, including Schapelle Corby, Michelle Leslie (with her new agent - see what crime can do for you) and that lesbian Bali 9 ringleader (who cares who the men were) - this trend may prove that it pays to be a female on the wrong side of the law.


Here is my paris picture