Spent the 24th travelling out to Melton by train. got to ride the fancy new speedy train that they have been building too! Just in time for Christmas, perfect! Except that I almost bought the wrong ticket and that Andie thought I was taking the bus so I waited at the train station for about half an hour for them to pick me up.
That night, Matt (Andie’s friend and Jenny’s son)planned for us to start off at a bar/club but it had a long queue outside and the security guy wouldn’t tell us if there was a cover charge so we drove past as Matt hurled insults at him… He was so funny because he was completely sober! Then we drove through a bottleshop to pick up some alchemehol for Pat’s houseparty. (Pat is another one of Jenny’s sons).
They are very musical so the night ended with a jam session
in the foyer of their little house at 2am!
The worst part of it was I couldn’t even sleep in cuz at 8am Damien (one of Jenny’s other kids) woke up the entire house to open presents! it’s so cute to see 20 year olds giddy like 5 year olds! Best present of the day: flyswatter!
Australians have their big meal at lunchtime instead of “tea” time so everyone was over at the Kearney’s for a traditional meal of turkey, roast, potatoes, veg, and trifle/Christmas pudding for dessert! Not long after that, the young’ins played backyard cricket while the oldies chatted inside. 
Needless to say, we had leftovers for dinner!
Cricket on boxing day was pretty fun. The key is not to pay any attention to the game but enjoy the atmosphere.
Crowds are not chanting “scull!” to cheer on their team but to drinkers downing beer as fast as they can. Once a winner and loser is determined, “You are a Wanker” is chanted at the loser!
People who were kicked out of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) received a “na na na na, na na na na, hey, hey, hey, gooodbye”
The wave was done at every opportunity and the section that failed to contribute (usually season ticket holders) were met with boos from everyone else!
And finally, a lot of cheering happened when the crowd bounced around large beach balls back and forth.
the only reason I ever looked at the game was when Matt or Brian from my house actually started yelling… And then we’d get to wave signs of 4(points) or 6(points) depending upon what just happened in the game.
Bertha