Down Under with Jan Mikaela Nora and Ella

One of the most frequently used words in the vocabulary of Australians is ‘Whingeing’. According to the dictionary it means complaining, moaning, grumbling. A whinger is someone you don’t want to be, but somehow is easily said about everybody else. In fact, most people here would tell you that South Aussies generally are just a bunch of whingers. Bosses tell their employees that they should stop whingeing, and all injured sports people are by default whingers. There’s even a radio show you can call that will broadcast your message live, as long as it starts with “I am not a whinger, but …..” All in all it is safe to say Australians love to whinge a little bit. So from that perspective our integration is really going well. Since a couple of weeks we are whinging our hearts out about the weather. It is mid-winter now, and believe it or not: it can be freezing cold here. An average day temperature of 15°C may be decent, but at night it can get as low as 3°C. Mind you: in a house with just...

Can you imagine? Exactly five years ago the city of Salamanca in Spain was sighing under a heat wave. A Swedish student almost finished her term and was ready to return home, when she walked into the ‘O Harris bar. Her friend was talking to this Dutch bloke, who thought he could learn Spanish in just two weeks. He disqualified himself even more by admitting he had no motorbike, no tattoos and he could not even tell Michael Jackson song from Prince. Worst match ever, you think?!? Well here we are, celebrating our fifth anniversary this weekend on a romantic getaway in Victor Harbor. On the shores of the southern ocean we were looking out for dolphins, penguins and whales. This time no heat wave and no Spanish classes, but still just as happy as that summer in Salamanca. It's been a great adventure all along. Too bad for that motorbike though ;-)