My Interview by Harmonica Man

I resisted as long as I could. This Interview meme has been making the rounds faster than Paris Hilton at a bucks night, but I held out. A girl can only take so much pressure, so when Harmonica Man put up his interview I caved and asked to be interviewed. That's how it works - you ask, and questions are sent. What kind of questions would I get from a man who has never meet me, has never spoken to me for that matter and only knows me via our mutual blogs?

Let's find out:

1. How did you and Hermit meet?

The Hermit and my mother work for the same company and she was his boss. Back in 1996 I needed someone to drive to the NC/SC border as I was going to be meeting my soon-to-be ex-husband to swap vehicles. My brother was supposed to come but for a reason I can no longer recall he had to bail. My mother and her matchmaking wiles stepped in and volunteered the Hermit. According to the Hermit he had no idea I would be coming along on this trip - to this day I can't figure out why he would think that and Momma Mooselet denies ever putting such a thought into his head. So we spent Labor Day weekend driving up and down the eastern seaboard and getting to know each other.

Love at first sight? Not quite. We were both coming out of quite horrid relationships and were in no way, shape or form ready to take up a new one. But we liked each others' company so we became very good friends and remained so for the next year and a half. Then in 1998 he spent a weekend helping me to redo my bathroom. It must've been the poor ventilation and the paint fumes, because by the end of that weekend we weren't just friends anymore.

And now you know the rest of the story...

2. Rugby or American football? Why?

Before I get to that, understand that there are two types of rugby. There is rugby union, which is what Americans would be familiar with on a very basic 'see it on tv and say hey, that's rugby!' type of way. It's a very free flowing game, with what I call the 'pig pile' style of tackling and lots of kicking. Then there's rugby league, which is what I follow, what Sparky plays and whose players I routinely ogle on this blog. Most Americans wouldn't be able to tell the difference right away. If you so desire, go look up the differences on Wikipedia or your own source of online info. I won't bore you to tears here.

I much prefer rugby league over American style football, referred to over here as gridiron. My parents were huge sports fans, following basketball, ice hockey, football and baseball (preferences in that order) as well as just about any other sport that came on tv. I always found football and baseball a little dull when compared to basketball and hockey. There is just so much standing around doing very little. A good example of this is the length of an NFL game. Four 15 minute quarters and a half time break routinely turn into a 3+ hour game! And no wonder the offensive and defensive lineman are so huge, bordering on fat - they exert themselves for a few seconds and then have a nice break. Dull, dull DULL.

By contrast rugby league is a much quicker game. Two 40 minutes halves plus a half time break equal a game over in under two hours. There is no offensive side, defensive side plus special teams - you keep the same guys on the field for the entire game (with the exception of 12 interchanges that are allowed for the entire game). They run, they tackle, they kick - hence they are all very very fit. There are no time outs - the clock very rarely stops, even for player injury. Guys who are bleeding are often just pulled out of the way and glued up (or in one case stapled up), bandaged and sent back out to play. No padding, no helmets - it is a brutal, physical game.

I know lovers of gridiron point to the strategy that is inherent in that game - a chess match of sorts. But if I want that level of strategy I'll go and play a real game of chess. When I watch sports I want to see action - the more the better!

3. What is the most inaccurate stereotype that Americans have about Australia - AND the most accurate?

Oooo a two-parter. I feel the most inaccurate stereotype Americans have is that Aussies lack sophistication and culture. The image that a lot of Americans have is a country full of Paul "Crocodile Dundee" Hogans and Steve Irwins, where everyone lives in the Outback, drinks Fosters, throws shrimp on the barbie and uses the language found on the menu at the Outback Steakhouse. I can assure you there are no blooming onions Down Under, I've never seen anyone drink Fosters (I'm pretty sure that Fosters is some kind of practical joke Australia has played on the rest of the world), they're called prawns, not shrimp, and I've never seen anyone throw them on a barbie (although they're served whole - eyeballs and all), and there are plenty of people who lives in the cities for whom a trip to the outer suburbs is an adventure. There is plenty of 'the good life' here if you want it.

The most accurate stereotype would have to be that Australian are very laid back people. At first glance this may seem in direct contradiction to the above paragraph, but it's not. You can go out for a night of theatre, have a fabulous meal with award winning Australian wine and drink cat poo coffee for $50 a cup but in the taxi home you'll talk to the cabbie like an old friend. People really do say 'no worries', 'she'll be right' and call perfect strangers 'mate' - and mean it. There are no signs in store windows that say 'no shoes, no service'. Sure there are snobs, but they are few and far between and when found out are taken down off their high horse by their fellow Aussies.

4. What do you miss the most about the US?

My family, no question. Being so far away from them is very difficult, especially with the kids. I wish I would win the lottery so I could afford to fly back more often (I've been back once in almost 5 years), or convince more of them to come and visit.

I did a post some time ago about things I really miss, and I am forever grateful to my mother for sending packages over despite the obscene postage rates. Lately I've found myself missing drive-thru ATMs. It sounds silly, but when you've got babies in the car and you need cash it is a royal PIA to not be able to use your own bank ATM, and save yourself the exorbitant foreign use fees, because you can't park next to it.

5. What's the coolest thing you've done in Australia since you've been there?

Visiting the Great Barrier Reef off of Cairns last year. I only wish I could have snorkelled or gone out on a life ring to the reef, but as I pregnant with Clive those were out. Instead I spent my day in awe of the colour of the water, the size of the coral and the sheer numbers of fish. Totally worth throwing up on the trip out. The GBR is just spectacular and at over 2000 kilometres long there's lots more to see. You can visit my online photos here.

Runner ups in this category include - visiting the Syndey Opera House, getting up close and personal with the kangaroos and koalas at the local zoos, dining on a nice 'roo fillet, hopefully not from the same zoo, and seeing humpbacks breeching off North Stradbroke Island.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW MEME

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." If you desperately want to participate and don't have a blog (Miss WTF, Mumfies) you can use mine - I'll post it here for you.
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.