Umm, thanks George

Yesterday Billy noticed that the US Treasury had deposited $600 into our BofA account. How nice, we thought. But... uh, are we obliged to give it back? If so, how do we do that? Did everyone else have to 'request' the cash, or did it also just magically appear in the bank? The reason we are confused about receiving it is... we just told government in April that we are living in Australia (and therefore were not obliged to pay them any tax)... so why, we ask, should we receive the economic stimulus payment? And if we were eligible for the payment, why didn't we get $1200? It's a mystery...

I guess they just want me to have some spending money when I visit the US in June. Bless Georgie's heart.

Bursary Dinner & Master's Dance

Last night was the annual Bursary Dinner followed by the Master's Dance. The dinner is a fundraising event for the student scholarship fund. It was held in the hall and was really quite lovely! After the dinner we walked out onto one of the lawns and there was a party tent! A jazz band was playing, with all student members, and Billy and I danced for the first time since our wedding! Our friend Kristen taught Billy how to flip me up onto one side of him, and then fling me to the other, then back again! Very cool swing move that we are very pleased to add to our somewhat limited repertoire! So it was really a fantastic evening! Here are a few pictures...

The theme was '1920's', but we didn't have time to find costumes or accessories... but that is why some people are wearing headbands!

Tom (left) - an ethan hawke look-a-like, and Kate from Tasmania. Kate is about to move to Moldova to do some aid work! (fyi... Moldova is between Romania and Ukraine)

A welcome change from the standard faire!! The potato rectangle was a stack of the most thinly sliced potatoes I have ever seen in my life... wafer thin!

Jane and Kristen

Getting ready for some dancing!

Jonathan is a student in my 'Ecological History of Humanity' tutorial! Good on ya Jonathan for hanging out with the tutors! :)

Ormond in Fall

Kersti and I took some photos before playing tennis and basketball the other day. It is late autumn now, and the weather has gotten colder and the trees have changed colour. But we are enjoying our life at Resort Ormond. Because Ormond has its own water tanks to collect rainwater, they can water their gardens unlike most of Australia. It is so nice to come home after work downtown to the quiet of the campus, it makes it really easy to forget that your livining in a big city. I am playing basketball for the Ormond team, and will be giving a seminar in a couple weeks on the Australian energy market. Kersti has been tutoring classes and wrapping up her classes this term as well. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

The main entrance to Ormond

The roses and signs of autumn

They keep everything green! The two trees on the right side of the picture may be Australia's only redwood trees.

We make good use of the basketball and tennis courts (which are rarely used by the students, unfortunately)

The great hall from the outside where we dine (including formal dinners).

Tiny gecko found inside a chicken egg

For a full read of this bizarre story, check out this link:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/16/2246597.htm

In short, a man in Darwin cracked open an egg for dinner and found a tiny dead gecko inside. I thought the egg industry x-rayed eggs... but I guess not. Now I'm going to be more careful!

Ormond College Formal Dinner

Happy Birthday Mom!! I hope you have a great Birthday, sorry we couldn't be there to celebrate with you! But at least we will get to check out the North Island soon!

Upon popular request, we snuck off a few picturesto show what goes on at Ormond College during the mysterious Formal Dinner. It is very dark in the Hall, so the pictures took some editing and many of them did not come out, but at least some are viewable.

The easiest way to describe it is to say it is eerily like Harry Potter, as it is based on the English tradition. Three times a week, the College gathers for Formal Dinner. All the students gather in their robes in the Great Hall, which is a massive, beautiful room with high ceilings and long wooden tables. The Senior Common Room (SCR), which consists of the Deans, the residential tutors (us), and the "Master" then enter the Hall in our robes and walk up to High Table, which is a long table up on a stage above the students. The Master then gives a short talk about what is going on in the College (a la Dumbledore) before dinner commences. Unfortunately, there is no sorting hat...

The food I think is quite good, although I think Kersti might disagree. We do get wine with our meals, as long as people remember to pass it. The meals only take about an hour. There are always at least a couple students who eat with us, as well as some visiting Professors, Judges, Physicists, you name it. So it is actually quite fun and we get to meet a lot of interesting people. Kersti and I both love living at Ormond, it is the exact opposite of living at College Square, our previous apartment complex. Everyone is so friendly and helpful.

Billy