December - table tennis, junk mail and life without tv

What a busy time - Sinta Klaas, First Christmas, Second Christmas and New Years...

Table tennis: Well it took a beating for about 2 days and now sits happily in the corner. Latest thing is loungeroom badmiton! We have a whole set of complex rules about what is in, what is out (above head height on the wall), what is a replay (touches the lights or plants) and where exactly the imaginary net continues once it leaves the couch - this is a touchy area.

Junk mail: Martijn and I got tired always having junk mail attached to our bike while parked at the university, so we put some "no junk mail" stickers on our bikes that are usually on your postbox. Must say it is working really well.

No tv: Sometimes after a hard day of not being understood (me) or studying hard (Martijn) you just want to kick back in the evening and watch mindless tv. Well we don't have a tv so have come up with a second best option. One of the really strange things here is that no-one closes their blinds in the evening and everyone's living room is the closest room to the street. So what Martijn and I have taken to doing is going for a bit of a stroll in the evening and checking out what is going on in the lives of other people, their furniture, colour schemes and indoor plants. Things you do for entertainment.

I personally am one for closing the blinds because

a) it keeps the room warmer and

b) I don't want strange people looking in on us.

Visa update. Still waiting.

I know that the immigration department has made a decision, they just haven't told me what that decision is. They say only that they have 6 months from the time of application in which to make a decision and then to tell me about the decision. I don't think I am asking too much to know what that decision is if it has been made.. how hard is it to send a letter?

Things of note from December:

• New spelling being introduced by the government at the end of the month
• Real Sinta Klaas day
• Christmas (see post)
• New Years Eve (see post)
• Began playing loungeroom table tennis
• Began playing loungeroom badmitton
• Bought new contact lenses after having my eyes tested (the exam was in Dutch and consisted mostly of "look there" "look here" "better or worse." Real test was when I had to say the names of the letters on that letter board thing. Letters have different names here)
• End of English conversation classes - new classes begin next year
• End of dance classes - should I continue?
• Banana cake failure
• Signed up for the next NT2 (language exam) for March
• Made contact with Kurma to tell him about how the Dutch re-interpreted one of the dishes I made from his cookbook. And I had a reply to my email!! (It was an indian dry curry with potato.... I couldn't believe it when Martijn insisted on having mayonnaise with it) http://www.kurma.net/index.php , http://www.iskcon.net.au/kurma/