on my way Backpacking, roadtripping and travelling the world

Australia Day – back to normality?!

It's been a while since I wrote my last post, but there's not much new or interesting to tell.
The nature is back on it's 'normal' track - except the cyclones hitting the northern coast of Queensland around Cairns - and Brisbane has come back to a 'normal' business. Some cleaning is still going on, but most the 'armies of volunteers' worked only on the first two weekends - nevertheless, they did an awesome job!
After the one week off university I am in the middle of my teaching period right now. As we have to make up some classes because of the flood related closure of the uni, I will have 7 days uni out of 9 in a row - including a saturday lesson. On monday there will be the first mid-term exam, so lot's to learn and read.
Last week though, on Wednesday 26 January, there was the public holiday: Australia Day. The Queenslanders needed this day so much, as it was the first opportunity to forget about the bad things that happened in the last weeks and really to relax. Some of the celebrations had to be moved or reorganized, but nevertheless they didn't let anything to let them down.
I joined one of our new housemates Sunae going to her old flat she had lived until now. but first of all we attended a typical event on the way to there: a pig race. No matter if it's pigs or even cockroaches, the Australians make them run in a race. You can bet on the winner and win some money, but the main thing is having a lot of fun - and yes, it's really funny when these small pigs start running through the course and try to get to the food.
After we watched one of these races we spent the rest of the day either in the pool or at the BBQ grill. There are 4 houses which share this communal pool, but it was the flood, that brought them all together. As the electricity was cut off and no one had to got to work, all the people from the houses gathered around the pool and got to know each other for the first time. So just one week later, Australia Day was a great opportunity to organize a party. So we all had a lot's of fun hanging around while listening to the famous JJJ's hit List for 2010.