Moving to another country always brings about surprises, big or small, pleasant or otherwise. I thought I’d write (some of) them down some before the old age virus corrupts the hard drive on top of my shoulders. Hence, let me start off with things I discovered in my new homeland that made me say 'what the . . .'

On the day we arrived in Australia, we were met at the airport by Ate Irma (my other half, Francia’s cousin) and her Aussie husband Blackfella (yes, that’s his real name!) for the 3-hour drive from Sydney to Canberra. On the way, we stopped for a break and a quick meal at a rest area along the highway. And there came the flies, buzzing around our faces, trying to get INTO our nose or mouths, and beating us to the adobo we were going to have for breakfast! And even when I tried to swat them away, they always came back. Shaking them off did not work! They didn’t even budge. I spent a good part of the stopover swatting them away from my face and my meal! It was totally unexpected as there was no open/smelly garbage (rubbish as Aussies prefer to call it), sewer drain or dead animal nearby. We were out in open country! Green grass all around, fresh air! But there they were, and our Australian journey was off to a 'flying' start!

Last spring we had two of my wife’s friends, lovely ladies Ruby and Lea, who came over from the Philippines. In between the kamustahan, they told of how they felt embarrassed stepping out of Sydney Airport because flies swarmed all over them while they were walking. They stopped and were about to smell their clothes (and perhaps their armpits?), when they noticed that they were not alone. Everyone had flies buzzing about or stuck to their faces.

When I heard the story, I told them that the flies helps one identify whether a person is Australian (or has been Down Under most of his/her life) or not; the Aussie would be the one who didn’t mind the flies too much. You want proof? I once saw Prime Minister John Howard on TV with a fly on his face while being interviewed. He tried to swat it away a couple of times but it kept coming back to the same spot near his right eye; he gave up and went on with his spiel ‘fly-in-cheek’. This scene would be repeated many times over, flies accentuating the faces of news reporters, athletes, politicians, etc.