Rang Oz last night…

It was my brother's birthday yesterday and with a spare K20 phone card
in my wallet I decided to splurge on a telephone call. It was 10:10pm in
the evening and I had just returned from my weekly Rotary meeting. I was
keen to speak with John and to give him my best birthday wishes.
Unfortunately John is currently in China on business and I got to speak
with my sister-in-law Therese instead. We spoke for approximately 5 mins
as this is all the talking time that K20 will buy. We made the most out
of our 5 mins and it was really nice to hear the voice of one of my
“clan” from back in Sydney.
When I think about Sydney I'm of two minds. On the one hand the hustle,
the bustle and the general busy-ness of the place is something I do not
miss at all. Nor do I miss the general selfish, careless and apathetic
attitude of city dwellers. If I was to travel from the airport out at
Mascot all the way up to the Central Coast to visit Mum, I would pass
thousands of people on my journey north and I know that in all
likelihood not one person would smile or say hello to me. Here in Lae, I
need but walk 100m down the road and I interact with close to two dozen
folks. Asking me where I'm headed or just a general gooday. I have come
to the conclusion that Sydney looks great but deep down it stinks. Sorry
to speak this away about my place of birth but this is how I feel.
Apart from being able to go to the movies or sit at an outdoor cafe and
indulge in a flat white – there is not a great deal that I miss from my
home town. There is one thing though that I do miss dearly and that is
my family and close friends. Especially my family. During the past 18
months of posting stories to this blog I have mentioned very little (if
anything) about how I miss my “clan” from back home.
During my conversation last night with Therese – it hit me again.
Therese was telling me about their four daughters and how they have
changed over the past year, Rebecca, Danielle, Jessica and Emma. All
close to one year older since we last spent time together. When I was
back in Sydney from time to time we would go to the movies together, eat
popcorn and icecream or go to Maccas afterwards for a bite. We would
just kind of hang out together. They call me uncle – I suppose the next
best thing to be called Dad. I miss them dearly.
A trip to Sydney over the xmas break is definitely on the cards. Sure
looking forward to those hugs and smiles and catching up on a years
worth of stories.
The “clan” – my “clan” – our “clan” – one “clan”.
By the way John… happy birthday!