Everything in America Comes with Pancakes

This blog is to inform you that I am still alive.

My brother, Mike, sent a concerned e-mail last week that it had been a while since I last updated my blog, and that he could sleep better at night rest-assured that I had not fallen into the hands of toughs or other nefarious individuals...and, if I had the chance, could I please check on the price of an Australian i phone ($719AUD). (For those of you not acquainted, all of us Olejnik kids are very similar).

Sorry folks, not much new to report from Down Under. I'm on spring break right now, which elicited odd looks from my students when wishing them a "Happy spring break!" because, well, mainly, it's not spring here. Incidentally, these same PR students also looked at me funny when we covered the topic of giving away free swag [cheap promotional freebee items], which I found out later means sleeping bags.

Anyway, to reward themselves for attending five straight weeks of school, the Uni students get two weeks off, return for two weeks, and then have an additional two weeks off for a much needed mid-semester break. Many of them just went ahead and cut out a week early to get a jump on their vacay. I have to admit, it's been a huge adjustment acclimating to the Australian work ethic. I've read the Australian Constitution (yes), it ends with "Now we can play footie."

Arguably not warranting two weeks off, the Easter Holiday is a huge to-do in Australia, and its signature baked item, the Hot Cross Bun, tastes disgusting.

Also, at some point, we have all probably wondered while walking down the grocery aisle just who is keeping the Cadbury Creme Egg industry afloat? Well, I'm happy to report, it's Australia. The kitschy, goo-filled spring-time sweets are revered by the locals as a rare, partially-hydrogenated delicacy. It's like they have been laid by fluffy pastel condors themselves.

Another interesting thing I'm finding out about the Aussies is that many of them are far more likely to have been to the far reaches of the globe than other parts of their own country. "Dubai-Yeah that's awesome! The Great Barrier Reef, never been, I hear it's nice." They are amazed that I have been to three whole different parts of this land!


I was talking to a young man yesterday that recently returned from a trip to the US and Canada for the Olympics. In addition to cuisine being cheap and abundant and large in size, he observed that everything in America came with pancakes. He put on about 6 kilos in a month as his group ate and drank their way across North America.

Now, I don't consider myself the patriotic type, but I've never been as proud of my country as I am of its carbs. U-S-A-U-S-A.

Gotta Run. Going to play rugby at the park later on and I have to get to the grocery store before it closes at 4.

Did you know??? New Zealand-born, Naturalized Australian Actor Russell Crowe owns part of a professional Rugby team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Did you also know???: The Rabbitoh emblem came from the turn of the 20th century, when to earn extra money, the Rugby players skinned and sold bunnies and wore their blood-spattered jerseys to matches later on in the day.

Did you know therefore this means??? Russell Crowe hates bunnies