How ya going, mate?

How ya going, mate? yeah, no drama, she'll be right...

And so we are here.  Actually in Coogee, a suburb of Sydney where we are staying in a vacation rental while we sort out where to live, where to send the kids to school, and other small details.  This time I remembered to say to Xander "don't go run into the ocean with all your clothes on, because it's very damn cold in their right now", so all he managed was to soak his feet, socks, and shoes, and notice the nice numbing effect of winter water.  Yes, I do have to specifically give these types of instructions.  There have been...  incidents.

The flight via business class was very nice.  I don't know when we would ever be able to afford this on our own, so we tried to, as Hannibal Burress suggested "experience the shit out of it".

Re: How ya going?  Everyone says this.  All the time.  I'm practicing it in front of the mirror, but here's some examples and translations:

1. At the airport, I'm blocking access to someone's luggage - "How ya going, mate?"  translation?  "Hey, you're blocking my luggage, moron"
2. At the beergarden, my turn to order beer, "How ya going, mate?"  translation? "What sort of beer would you like?"
3. At the cafe, in the morning, with the family, with a thickly chinese accented australian lilt, "How ya going, mate?"  translation?  "Are you ready to order?
4. Sikh in full headgear leaving convenience store, "How ya going?"  - translation?  "whatup".

It goes on and on and on.  I point out to our real estate person that I'm trying to get it right, and she says "do we say that alot?  yeah, I guess we do, don't even notice it"  which I think is absolutely right.  She moves smoothly and imperceptibly between the names of things, and the slang equivalent without noticing.  "Paddington" becomes "Paddo" without explanation, and I'm reminded of the american comedian on the flight over who postulated that Australians make up words on the fly, at which point a secret communications system adds them into the lexicon instantly...

The people are *CHARMING*.  Everyone is super nice and super friendly.  We are enjoying the crap out of this!  The boys were a bit boisterous after being in the car today, so Toni took them over to evil hamburger chain, while I enjoyed the worst burrito I've ever had, along with a surprisingly good margarita.  Settling in, indeed.