224 people, 60 questions

Friday afternoons at the office have always been special. Around 5pm, people stop working and go chill out in the kitchen area, were you can get a beer from the fridge, play pool or foosball and chat with your colleagues. Last Friday was even more special. It's safe to say that at 3:30pm no one was really working any more, and the whole office was buzzing like a hive on a warm summer day.

- "So are you ready for the trivia?"
- "Of course! Our team has been reading the papers for the last two weeks!"

So yes, last Friday was a "trivia night". While you can guess it involves answering questions, the purpose of this event was twofold:

I do not know how common this is in France because I have never been to any such event, but my company here really values team building exercises. Trivia night was one of them, and so is the October soccer tournament. It was indeed a good way to talk to people you don't know that well!

The other aspect of this trivia was fundraising: from time to time, our company organises events to raise money for charity. For example, a few weeks ago some colleagues ran City 2 Surf, a 14km race between Hyde Park and Bondi Beach. Both the trivia and the race were helping fund Bear Cottage, a children's hospice near Sydney that offers rest, medical care and support to children with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

So at 4pm, off we went to the RSL down the road, were we realised that there were 224 people participating! That's 28 teams of 8, which means 27 teams that could possibly be smarter than us :) How it works is that each team gets to sit down, eat some nibbles and drink bear while listening to 3 sets of 20 questions. The questions are only spoken once, and you have about 30 seconds to come up with a smart guess. Of course, all mobiles phones had to be turned off!




So here's a small example of what is was like, so you can get to play as well :) I will give you the answers in a few days!

• Name 6 countries that end with the letter Y, apart from Vatican City.

• Find an anagram of the word "treason".

• Name 3 movies that Brad Pitt starred in that have numbers in their names, apart from Ocean's 11, 12 and 13.

• If it takes 2 hours for two taps to fill a pool, and 6 hours if only the left tap is on, how long would it take if only the right one was on?

• Do Australians pay GST on Kellogg's Coco Pops?

• What are the 3 cities that host the biggest comedy festivals worldwide?
  

While our team did quite well on the first two sets, we almost got everything wrong on the last 20 questions which resulted in an unpredictable ranking. Last! Can you believe it? Well we won some nice chocolates, "lucky last" prize they called it.

Trains, candy bars and crazy vowels

Sophie has already told you about some of the differences between France and Australia. Still I guess we could go on forever about this - please tell us if it's just too much. Off the top of my head I can think of three more.


1. The first one is public transport. People here don't seem to be happy with what they have, but they haven't experienced "Le RER B". In four months of CityRail, we haven't experienced a single strike and trains have hardly ever been late. Also, there is a clearly marked "safe area" on the platforms and trains for those late night rides. It must have been pretty cheap to create, and it's all the more a brilliant idea: people tend to stay seated together hence reducing any chance of something happening.

Another thing you have to love about CityRail is the speaker voice on the platforms. While most of the stations use pre-recorded messages, a few in the city actually have someone greeting the passengers.



"Hi everyone, I hope you all had a nice Friday. The next train is a bit crowded so may I suggest that you get on the next one if you can. In any case, please stand clear of the doors and make a nice path for the passengers to alight. Have a nice weekend!"


2. The second of those differences would be candy bars. As stupid as it sounds, I can tell you that even after 4 months you can end up spending a few minutes at the convenience store wondering which ones you haven't tried yet. Of course this blog wouldn't be the same if I didn't add a few pictures, so here you go:



I guess my #1 favourite has to be the KitKat cookie dough - it tastes like Ben&Jerry's cookie dough ice cream in a chocolate wafer. Close second is the MilkyBar, which is basically Galak in a different packaging.

Fun fact: The MilkyBar was created by Nestle in 1937, but the sales really took off 30 years later when The Doors covered the famous "Show me the way to the next milkybar". Wait, what?


3. Finally, another major difference is the language. Sure people speak english, but it's nothing like the accent you're used to! If you're a girl, you might have heard that sweet Australian drawl in episodes of HeartBreak High. If you're a guy you probably haven't - well I haven't. Anyway, after a few months of full-time exposure I am finally starting to understand how it works. So my friends, here's a few tips for when you come and visit!

• [owe] is pronounced [aowe]
• [aille] apparently becomes [oaille]
• [ey] becomes [aey] or even [aille] if you overdo it

Which gives us something like:

- How far is the traillen stailletion?
- I'd say it's a twenty-foaieve minute ride.
- Then we'd better gaow, we don't wanna be laillete for the shaow...
- What shaow?
- Didn't you get my messidge, [a cool band] is playing in [a cool venue]! (careful here, "message" is an irregular one)
- Oh that was tonoaillet? Alroaieght, let's gaow then!


Disclaimer: I accept no liability for any weird or stupid-sounding accent after you try my unbelievably accurate method.

Oh, a blog!

Hi everyone! It's been a while, I know - but here I am to dust this blog and chase the few spiders away. Well what can I say, the last few months have been pretty busy.

There have been a lot of things going on at work, where [if you don't care please skip to the next paragraph] I am in charge of the migration to Microsoft Team Foundation Server. Those scary words simply mean that I am packaging the software that other people write, and making sure that we are able to release it any time we want! It's a lot of work but I'm really happy with my job, and it's nice to be liaising with a lot of different people.

But enough about work; our evening and weekends have been packed with much nicer occupations such as:

• Mad nights out in local pubs (were we probably are not allowed in any more)
• Going rollerblading along the beach (and the winter's not even over yet)
• Taking pictures for local bands (I hope I can put some pictures soon)
• Doing cultural stuff like museums and boat shows (see picture attached)
  
• Making poached eggs (it's harder than it looks)
  
• Taking a few days off to see places like Newcastle (ha ha, the other one)
  
• Going to the movies a lot (for half the price of the ticket in Paris it would be a pity not to)
• Writing papers for school...
  

Well the last one is really just Sophie, and it's keeping her pretty busy these days. Fortunately it will all be over very soon when she graduates in a few weeks. I say the next few months will be pretty busy too, but I'll manage to keep you updated. Our plans include paintball, more rollerblading, a week off in Melbourne, and of course moving closer to the beach - ah those tourists :D

Animals in the wild (well except for those big lizards)

The Harbour bridge, by day and by night


"Cultural stuff" (yes it does count)


Sydney's monorail, and a few pictures of our lovely winter


Well see you soon, everyone! Oh I've got one last thing to share with you before I leave, because it really made me laugh:




Bye!

EADGBE

At first I thought: I'll be OK. I don't need this. It's not like I used it all the time. But then came the first exposure, in the street. The second, on TV. Then a third one in the street again. Damn music shops!

I've never suffered guitar withdrawal before, but I can only guess the symptoms include tuning the kitchen stove or strumming your shower curtains. You bet I gave in pretty quickly :D



I guess we'll need an extra luggage on our way back!

Taronga Zoo

So as I was telling you, yesterday was zoo time for us. We had an appointment with the zoo keeper at 10am so we had to get up at 7am - as you can guess it wasn't a problem for me, just the standard getting-up-early-to-do-stuff regular kind of weekend. Sophie was a bit tired so we stopped for a breakfast drink. "Two redbulls please, no sugar".

Then we had a lovely day, except for the crappy weather. There was a lot to learn and a zoo actually seems quite different when you see it from the inside: preparing the food, feeding the animals, walking on the wrong side of the fences! Oh I forgot to mention, he was a keeper for the Australian section, so it mostly involved marsupials. You don't want to walk on the wrong side of the lion fence.


On the ferry, then arriving at the zoo


A small kangaroo


And a big kangaroo (on steroids?)


Believe it or not, a "tree kangaroo"


After the tour, we wandered on our own between the giraffes and the lions and the rain. We finally got home the same way we got there - on the ferry, with a beautiful sunset over the harbour.




It's not always about kangaroos!



This is also the day I learned more about using depth of field
(+ check out Timon looking for Pumba in the last picture)


On the way back home, it's amazing how quickly the sun sets.



Facts to impress your friends at dinner parties:

1. I've always thought that platypuses were the only egg-laying mammals. In fact they're not - the order of monotremes is composed of two living species: platypuses and echidnas. Both have very special abilities like being able to perceive electric impulses.



2. It is a known fact that eagles have an incredible eye sight. But you never really picture how incredible. The guy hosting the bird show was telling us that from where we were standing, they could probably see a rabbit walking in the botanic gardens, which is the green area at the bottom of the buildings (about 2.5km away).



Of course, this is most handy when an eagle mate runs late at the bar. "Hey I can see you're still at the nest! Step on it!". But of course they don't have mobiles which renders the whole thing pointless :D

3. The mom kangaroo's pregnancy only lasts 36 days. At birth, the baby only weighs about 1g, and looks nothing like a kangaroo yet. It's just a small jelly beans with two little arms and black spots where the eyes will be. The joey then continues his growth inside the front poach. A joey, that's how a baby kangaroo is called. About 6 months later, he starts going for hops and coming back to the poach - until her mom decides it's over and closes the poach altogether. Poor little thing!

The queen's birthday

Every year in Australia, the second Monday of June is a public holiday - and people celebrate the Queen's birthday. Not that it exactly coincides with her birthday or that we actually participated in any official celebration, but we sure enjoyed the long weekend. And we had a lot of plans:

Saturday

Some friends have reminded us about the shows we'll be missing while we're away. Too bad for Anti Flag... Gab you'll have to tell us how it was... if you got your ticket. You got one, right?!

Anyway we had a look at some Aussie websites, and it turns out that Sydney also has a nice music scene and a few venues. One of them is Manning Bar, located inside the Sydney University. Oh and the university, people call it "uni" - don't say you went to "college" or you'll look like a tourist :)

I was really happy when I learned that A Wilhelm Scream was currently on tour, and playing... wait for it.... in Manning Bar! If you ask me, the show was awesome, but Sophie didn't really like it. They played some new songs from their latest albums and some also older ones from Mute Print, like The Rip or Famous friends.

Speaking of famous friends (see the clever transition hey?), here's a two pictures I took during the last few weeks. Apparently, a friend of mine has already been to Australia and forgot to tell me. Even worse, another friend has already been here and made it as a political figure - still without telling me. What the??




Sunday

Our Sunday was also about music, as we went to the Opera House to see a musical. Yes, to THE OPERA HOUSE. I know, it sound pretty cool :) And we had a great time! The building itself is beautiful, and it in fact listed as a UNESCO word heritage site. In case you want to know, it was designed by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon.


The Opera House, by day and by night.

So you must be wandering what it was, the musical? Well on this Sunday evening, the two realistic (i.e. not in Italian) options were My Fair Lady and Edward Scissorhands. While I'm sure Pygmalion is a very nice tale, we kind of wanted to see Edward Scissorhands more.

Without spoiling anything, the musical is based upon the film. It tells the story of a boy who has been created pretty much in the same way Frankenstein has been. Only, his creator died before he could give him real hand, which left the boy with long scissors were his fingers should've been. He is adopted by a stereotyped but typical American family, but neighbours do not seem too keen on letting this monster into their lives. His extraordinary skills as a gardener or hair-dresser help a little, but his life is still a struggle between friendships and rejection.

The whole musical was magical, sometimes as weird as it was touching, but that's what you 'd expect when the story is based on one of Tim Burton's classics. Cameras weren't allowed inside the Opera House, so here are a few official pictures instead. Just for you to get a better idea.







Monday

Let's face it, it had been a while since our last encounter with a kangaroo. Naturally, we spent our Monday at the zoo. The Taronga Zoo! But more on that in another post. No particular reason, I just like to keep my posts "short" :)