Down Under

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November 1999, Australia

One night at a friend's house, Tanya nearly jumped out of her clothes when Pete shoved a green tree frog by the back legs into her face as she was reading a book about poisonous snakes and reptiles in Australia. We all had a good laugh at her expense. Our only "real" dangerous animal or reptile encounter was at an animal sanctuary, where a kangaroo with a baby attacked Tanya as I was trying to take a picture --maybe a bit too close. A kangaroo will lean back on its tail and thrust the sharp claws of its hind feet into your belly to defend itself. Luckily, we got away before Tanya's belly was ripped open. I wonder if the picture turned out?

December 1999, Australia

We made some great new friends and got a small feel for the Australian way of life. Often, people would make comparisons between the USA and Australia, but for us these did not seem valid. There are certain modern conveniences and other similarities in both countries, but I would not like to make a comparison to the way of life of Australians and that of Americans. We share a common language (with accents, of course), but have cultures of our own.