Americans in Canberra

I think I may have mentioned this before, but all Jim, Nancy and I could really walk to from our hotel in Canberra was the mall. So we went to the mall after our workshop, and what did we see right inside the front door? A Nativity! We all stopped dead in our tracks and gasped. A Nativity in a public place like the mall? We simply couldn't believe it! In a church yard, yes. In someone's personal yard, yes. But the mall? We were truly shocked. And so we took a picture, just in case anyone didn't believe us.

Now, just to add a few details, the woman we asked to take our picture thought we were hilarious, so she and her 11-year-old son talked to us for a while. They told us that instead of leaving milk and cookies for Santa, they leave BEER and cookies! In fact, the 11-year-old told us that one year they left out 10 beers, and Santra drank 9 of them (his Dad drank the last one on Christmas morning). I have a feeling that kids in Canberra get better presents from Santa than American kids.
Next up, a nod to the long-suffering Jim. Those of you who know Jim probably know that at story time, he prefers to be called Mr. Jim. Those of you who know him also probably know that Jim can be a bit of an Eeyore sometimes. So Nancy and I started calling Jim: Mr. Jim Grumblebum. Once we saw this, however, his name extended to Mr. Jim Grumblebum Sherpa. Tikki Tikki Tembo has nothing on Jim.

We saw this sign on a pole on a main road in the Belconnen suburb of Canberra. This is one of the best signs I've ever seen! Needless to say, Nancy and I felt compelled to practice.

Being caught unawares, I did not have a hat or an open umbrella. Therefore, I had to go with the basic "aaaarrrrgggghhh" while shielding myself with my hands. Note, however, that I am not running.

Nancy, however, is properly prepared with her hat. Bring on the swooping birds!

By the way, we never did get swooped, despite walking by this sign about 10 times.

Canberra Pictures

Okay, I know I'm way behind on pictures. I'm sorry about that! I'll try to catch up a bit now. A special apology to the Canberra folks who have been waiting to see their pictures!

This first picture is a group photo of our Canberra workshop participants. Everyone has their teddy bear that Jim requested they bring. However, you might notice that the woman in the lower left corner has the real thing! That's little Harry, and he loved doing story time with his Mom and Mr. Jim.





As you may know, the gentleman of "Unshelved" sent us with door prizes for Aussie librarians and anyone who works with children. Below are some of our thrilled winners showing off their comic books and t-shirts!

Here, the "What Would Dewey Do?" comic book.

Here, the Library t-shirt (I have one of those), and the "Pimp My Bookcart" t-shirt. Just FYI, "Pimp My Bookcart" is a real contest that "Unshelved" sponsers every year. So people, pimp those bookcarts and send your pictures to "Unshelved!" (www.overduemedia.com)

Here are comic book winners: one has the original, first volume of "Unshelved." The other has the "Book Club" volume (also available in a t-shirt).

Aha! Here's the "Book Club" t-shirt right now! Plus one of my favorites, the "Readers' Advisory" t-shirt.

We are in Canberra

Last night, after our lovely presentation in the Barossa Valley, we caught a flight to Canberra. We really haven't seen anything yet, as we arrived after dark, went to bed, woke up, and walked 5 blocks to the library.

However, we have had more adventures in hotels! Last night as we were getting ready for bed, Nancy said, "Boy, this room is going to be dark. I hope we can get to the bathroom in the dark." Well, the room had this big, round, fluorescent light in the ceiling. I turned it off, though my bedside light was still on, and pointed out to Nancy that the fluorescent light looked blue. "That's kinda weird," I said. But when we turned all the lights off, the fluorescent light glowed like a big, blue moon! I've never seen anything like it. It was brilliant and hilarious all at the same time! We may try to caputure the wonder of it on a video camera.

Nancy and I got quite the jolt of adrenaline this morning when I got up to use the bathroom, and Nancy sleepily asked what time it was. We both squinted at the clock (as neither of us had our contacts in or glasses on), and it was 6:55am. We had put in a wake-up call for 6:00am! You have never seen two people leap out of bed as quickly as us! We were ready in record time. Who needs coffee when you can just oversleep by an hour?

The crowd here in Canberra is fantastic. They are so fun and ready to laugh and participate! Also, they provided a GREAT tea: lemon squares, scones, and carrot cake. Yum.