tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153053138116922612026-04-01T18:19:58.457+11:00The story of one African American's search for happiness and fulfillment in the land down under. It looks at the challenges and opportunities that come with moving to a new country and some hilarious anecdotes about food, family, people & and circumstances.Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-63103225665166725892010-01-18T16:27:00.000+11:002010-01-18T16:27:08.120+11:00

Image via WikipediaI haven't posted in a few weeks but it would come as no surprise that fried chicken would be enough for me to break my silence. Like most Black Americans I do love me some fried chicken...so much so that sometimes it makes me want to dance! As you can guess I've had my share of questions and conversations about KFC and their "happy" fried chicken spot (here). Black Americans

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-54054530108140547982009-12-05T23:27:00.000+11:002009-12-05T23:27:02.061+11:00

Image via WikipediaThis weekend I had the pleasure of accompanying my sister in-law to Facebook's Aussie team Christmas party. It was good fun and also good to spend some time around some other Americans. We talked about some of the benefits of living here in Sydney as well as some of the challenges of living abroad. One common complaint is that we hardly ever get phone calls from folks back

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-89722159765644002222009-11-28T21:46:00.000+11:002009-11-28T21:46:02.562+11:00

Image via WikipediaThis is the 2nd Thanksgiving holiday spent abroad for us since we relocated to Australia. For my money Thanksgiving is the best holiday of the year. It's not about buying presents or a religious holiday but rather it's about spending time with loved ones and giving thanks for the blessings we've received over the last year. Like many Americans I have very fond memories of

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-75391642988044503492009-11-12T19:06:00.012+11:002009-11-15T16:40:36.802+11:00

Image via WikipediaLast night was the long awaited first meeting of the Blacks in Oz secret society. We chose a hidden location where none of the locals would think to look - the only soul food restaurant in town. Even though I'd only met one of the other founding members I was fairly confident that I'd be able to pick the group out from the other patrons at the restaurant. In my 15 months in

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-74432208129813041472009-11-03T15:38:00.008+11:002009-11-03T19:52:24.876+11:00

Image via WikipediaThe Melbourne Cup, billed as "the race that stops a nation", could quite possibly be the best sporting event in all of Australia. It's similar to the Kentucky Derby with all of the money, pageantry and ceremony that goes with a huge horse race. The biggest difference seems to be that EVERYBODY here actually cares about it! The work day is done by noon and the bars are all

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-50058574842275073572009-10-29T16:54:00.008+11:002009-10-29T22:02:32.015+11:00

Image by craynol via FlickrI got a fat check from the Aussie government this week. It wasn't my tax return. Nor was it a payout based on my rugged good looks (that one's due next week). It's called the Childcare Tax Rebate and it helps offset the costs of daycare. It has the added benefit of keeping my 3 and 5 year olds from being prematurely forced into the workforce (but they can use jobs if

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-88841796236783704832009-10-26T16:12:00.010+11:002009-10-26T18:17:05.412+11:00

Image by poolie via FlickrI remember before the financial crash hearing a comedian remark that he knew the world was in trouble when he walked out of Starbucks, looked across and saw another one directly across the street. After a year living in Oz I now know that we Americans are lost when it comes to coffee. When I started working here last year, I received a crash course in the politics of

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-31630997987272690162009-10-25T22:42:00.001+11:002009-10-26T12:26:08.822+11:00

After just over a year here in Oz I’ve become accustomed to the fact that there just aren’t many Black folks here in Oz. More specifically, there aren’t many (any?) Black Americans here in Oz. This fact in and of itself isn’t exactly shocking but I found my recent response to seeing and speaking with another Black American to be a bit startling. Don’t get me wrong, if you walk thru downtown

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-44967056934088094222009-10-21T22:36:00.015+11:002009-10-26T12:30:09.604+11:00

Image by Vincent Ma via Flickr Among the many things that you must adjust to when moving abroad anywhere is the new vocabulary you need to begin using so that you can fit in at your home away from home...or at least as much as a 6'2" Black American can "fit in" in Oz. The same is true of food as you'll be introduced to new foods that are simply delectable (like my sis in-law's maple cream pie -

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-38355625142129646122009-10-13T18:24:00.002+11:002009-10-26T12:14:56.498+11:00

Image via Wikipedia A couple weekends ago I had the honor of hosting my in-laws for the National Rubgy League (NRL) Grand Final.  Think the Super Bowl of Rugby League without the wardrobe malfunction (unfortunately).  This year's final pitted the Melbourne Storm, who are regulars to the Grand Final, versus the Parramatta Eels, the Cinderella team that went on a late season run that took

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-32069691570661880372009-10-09T22:59:00.002+11:002009-10-26T12:14:09.856+11:00

I've gotten a lot of questions recently about the 'Jackson Jive' black face skit on the TV show 'Hey Hey It's Saturday'. I know it's picked up a great deal of airplay in the U.S. so I thought it'd be worthwhile to discuss it here in the context of what I've experienced thus far. For those of you who haven't heard about it a group of guys did a supposedly humourous skit where they were

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-90641684305201898342009-09-29T21:54:00.002+10:002009-10-26T12:57:39.609+11:00

One thing that I've learned in my short time here is that folks pretty quickly pick out that I'm not exactly from these parts.  Either they think that (1) I'm just here for a visit or (2) are expecting me to leave pretty soon.  They give me that look like they're letting me in on the secret that there aren't that many Black people here.  DUH!  I've been able to discern

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-23761015981118772552009-09-20T21:21:00.001+10:002009-10-25T22:41:46.444+11:00

Image via Wikipedia According to UBS's ranking system Sydney fell from the 17th most expensive city in the world to live in 2008 down to # 38.  Now I don't know a whole lot about their ranking methodology but I'm going to have to call BULLSHIT on that.  Let me break down for you MY methodology for making this assessment.  Listen up you statesiders considering a move to the

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-46342287389858450372009-09-14T19:07:00.000+10:002009-09-14T19:07:42.826+10:00

Image by Roberto Rizzato ►pix jockey◄ Facebook resident via FlickrBecause Australia seems so far away from the center of the universe that most Americans live in, I can understand why so many rumours and stereotypes have arisen about this wonderful place that have absolutely no basis in reality...wait - strike that...that have a very limited basis in any kind of reality.  Throw in the

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-71003730955703904562009-09-06T20:12:00.002+10:002009-09-12T08:28:21.104+10:00

Image by jaqian via FlickrAs one prepares to move half way around the world the questions that inevitably come up always seem to start with "Well what about all the things you're going to miss??" (mostly from your friends who've never left your hometown) and "What about all the things you're going to see & do??" (typically from the friends looking for a vacation from their own dreadful

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-415305313811692261.post-51326462169404954192009-08-31T10:35:00.000+10:002009-08-31T11:21:47.989+10:00

Welcome to my new blog where I'll share with you the ins and outs of this Jersey boy's new life in Oz. As I approach my 1 year anniversary of my relocation to my wife's homeland, I'm ready to share with you my observations and thoughts from the perspective a African American trying to find his path in this far away land called Oz. So let's start at the beginning with some lessons learned as we

Black2Ozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13485975650543813588noreply@blogger.com11