Another three day weekend--yay!
It seems as though Australia has more public holidays than we do in the states. I have to say, in terms of days off, Australia kicks the states' ass. I get four weeks of paid vacation per year, plus 10 (11?) sick days. Although around the Christmas holidays when the offices are closed, there's forced vacation which kind of sucks, but overall it's pretty good.
Today is Anzac Day. Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day is a day of rememberance for the troops who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey in World War I--it was the first battle against their troops during the war. They were attempting to force Turkey out of the war, but after eight months the battle ended in a stale mate with loss of life of tens of thousands of soldiers. The day the battle began, April 25th, is now the day they recognise the armed forces for their sacrifices. There are memorial services, marches, and a dawn service to link back to the quiet, pre-dawn moments experienced by the troops prior to their dawn invation in Turkey.
I can't speak too much about how the holiday was originally celebrated, but current, mainstream celebrations include dawn service, then a run to the pub (often before mid-day) and playing two-up. Two-up is basically heads or tails, with one person flipping three coins in the middle of a rowdy crowd that full-on boo and hiss according to the results of the coin flip. Poor coin flipper would deal with some seriously intense energy! There were two older dudes coordinating in the center of the room, sweating, mediating, passing money and keeping the crowd in check. The feeling in the room was potent with a continual wave of yelling.
With my rich blood, I went in with $5 on tails. I had previously decided to only bet on heads (what's better, heads or tails?--hmm, cognition, over physicality, and the pick of the day seemed cognition), but a $5 bill was not common in the room and the first $5 bill I saw waving close, I jumped at--tails. Ha, great decision-making. :) But I won! And just as quickly stopped, though the boys wanted to go further into the circle, to the front line to continue with some more intense betting. I spectated for a while then decided to leave the boys (I was the only girl at this point) to their thing.
My first Anzac Day was pretty fun. I can't for the life of me remember what we did last year, so this year counts as my first. :)
Yesterday I had another first. Horse racing is as normal here as going to any other sporting event, except it's less about the horses and the sport and more about dressing to the nines and socializing. I went with Maria, Adam and a few other friends and had my first day at the races. It was a beautiful day, warm (we're having an Indian summer) though overcast so we didn't fry in the sun. The girls were out in full force with hats, heathers, heels and schmancy dresses.
I did one bet on horse 12, Pagan Princess. Of course a horse named Pagan Princess probably wasn't going to win, and of course she didn't. But I made my one bet and called it good.
Even though technically today is Anzac Day, we get tomorrow (Monday) off. I'm thinking a breakfast of raisin toast, a walk/run around the bay, some outlet shopping, then some blue cheese burgers with sweet potato chips. A quiet day is warranted.
Today is Anzac Day. Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day is a day of rememberance for the troops who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey in World War I--it was the first battle against their troops during the war. They were attempting to force Turkey out of the war, but after eight months the battle ended in a stale mate with loss of life of tens of thousands of soldiers. The day the battle began, April 25th, is now the day they recognise the armed forces for their sacrifices. There are memorial services, marches, and a dawn service to link back to the quiet, pre-dawn moments experienced by the troops prior to their dawn invation in Turkey.
I can't speak too much about how the holiday was originally celebrated, but current, mainstream celebrations include dawn service, then a run to the pub (often before mid-day) and playing two-up. Two-up is basically heads or tails, with one person flipping three coins in the middle of a rowdy crowd that full-on boo and hiss according to the results of the coin flip. Poor coin flipper would deal with some seriously intense energy! There were two older dudes coordinating in the center of the room, sweating, mediating, passing money and keeping the crowd in check. The feeling in the room was potent with a continual wave of yelling.
With my rich blood, I went in with $5 on tails. I had previously decided to only bet on heads (what's better, heads or tails?--hmm, cognition, over physicality, and the pick of the day seemed cognition), but a $5 bill was not common in the room and the first $5 bill I saw waving close, I jumped at--tails. Ha, great decision-making. :) But I won! And just as quickly stopped, though the boys wanted to go further into the circle, to the front line to continue with some more intense betting. I spectated for a while then decided to leave the boys (I was the only girl at this point) to their thing.
My first Anzac Day was pretty fun. I can't for the life of me remember what we did last year, so this year counts as my first. :)
Yesterday I had another first. Horse racing is as normal here as going to any other sporting event, except it's less about the horses and the sport and more about dressing to the nines and socializing. I went with Maria, Adam and a few other friends and had my first day at the races. It was a beautiful day, warm (we're having an Indian summer) though overcast so we didn't fry in the sun. The girls were out in full force with hats, heathers, heels and schmancy dresses.
I did one bet on horse 12, Pagan Princess. Of course a horse named Pagan Princess probably wasn't going to win, and of course she didn't. But I made my one bet and called it good.
Even though technically today is Anzac Day, we get tomorrow (Monday) off. I'm thinking a breakfast of raisin toast, a walk/run around the bay, some outlet shopping, then some blue cheese burgers with sweet potato chips. A quiet day is warranted.
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