Adventures in Australia...the beginning
Hello, friends, hello! I have finally made it back to the blog after a few months' hiatus. And, surprise, surprise, I am now to be found in yet another country! This time, though, it's a bit of a completion point, not only because I have been dreaming of going to Australia for as long as I can remember and been talking about this move for the last six months or so, but I am finally rejoined with Marcus and I am finally able to put some roots down and to start life. The first step was buying the ticket, applying for the visa, and all that fun stuff, then actually arriving to the country. Um, check, check, and check--I'm here! Yup, I'm here... The new thought running through my head? "Hmm, now what?" Well, don't you worry your pretty little head, I am working on that little kink. I'm waiting to hear back from Amnesty International about the job application I sent in for an Executive Administrator position in the Sydney office. I have discovered, however, that cookie-making and sweet-talking on my part are not likely to land me that job as they have hired an outside company to do their hiring. Boo. Well, I guess that one's just a wait and see. I have also found a foster care organization that works directly with foster youth to empower and support them through their time in care. At the moment the only position I could really apply for is a marketing officer position, which I'm not sure interests me but could be a good stretch. We'll see, I'd rather work in administration or programming.
Which brings me to an interesting little angle to this whole job search. I had lunch with one of my former bosses at CSF, Deborah, and she gave me some interesting advice. She told me not to do any more administrative work, that I should focus instead on finding a position in programming or policy. Administration is a comfortable thought to me right now, though I know it lacks the challenge I probably need. I suppose we'll see where I end up, now won't we? The impatient part of me is pushing me to send my resume in to a temp agency and ask specifically to work with non-prof's whereas the patient and perhaps more rational side of me is saying to wait and see where the feelers I have been putting out land me. For now, I will continue putting out feelers and I will wait.
Whew! That takes care of the functional side of things. Now onto the Australia part of things, those obvious and random observances I have been making since my arrival! First of all, the Australian visas are all electronic and there is nothing in your passport that shows you have permission to actually go to the country! After spending 45 minutes at the Sea-Tac airport in a state of moderate anxiety, I made my way over to the United desk and made sure that I crazy, and that in fact the visas were electronic, that it wasn't just my imagination. After slamming the passport reader against the desk and wall a few times (this ensures a high degree of trust in the reader, let me assure you) I was informed that my visas were valid and that I could actually go to Australia. Big sigh of relief. The flight was unnotable aside from the fact that I didn't go to the bathroom during the entire 14.5 hour flight. Not healthy, but hey, I'm doing alright on the other side! :)
I arrived in darkness, but on the other side of customs and an eternity of bag-waiting, the sun and a smiling though tired Marcus greeted me. Happy day! My first adjustment? Remembering to get in on the wrong side of the car. Drivers side is now passengers side and vice versa. Sitting inside of the car now feels a bit like a video game and my heart jumps into my throat not infrequently when making turns! I also am trying to adjust to walking on the left side of the sidewalk, which isn't quite as easy as it sounds. I drift a lot when I'm walking now...zig...zag...
I walked Marcus to the train station after dropping off my things and sitting down for a bit, then walked around the neighborhood (Erskinville) that is remarkably close to downtown.
I walked around, that is, until the fullness of my exhaustion and hunger reigned down upon me. I turned myself around, stopped into a produce stand and a little convenience store where I was horrified to find the prices so high!!! Seriously, not kidding even a little bit. Although one happy detail is that it is a convenience store and prices there are definitely higher than at a regular grocery store. I did get to go to a regular grocery store later (a Woolworth's--made me think of my dad who worked in Woolworth's way back in the day after he graduated from college!) and happily found that prices were a bit better (though still expensive) and there are a few normally-priced items. Grocery shopping in itself is a bit of a new adjustment to make as well, since the closest grocery store is about a 15-20 minute walk from the apartment. Not to mention that groceries are scarce in this household! That's a big change for me, the girl who (although she'd like to think she's mostly departed from her Mormon upbringing) has a mini-food storage supply in her kitchen cupboards at all times! I mean, I traveled around for the last month with Clif bars, granola bars, a giant bag of Trader Joe almonds, and a chocolate bar in her purse. Yes, all at once. I also ate my last Clif bar that I took in my bag to SA in the week before I flew back to the states. This girl likes to be prepared! Anyhew, I'm prepared on the baking front, I just need to stock up on my utensils now. :)
After my first food-buying excursion, I returned to the apartment and spent the next hour or so putting my things away. Clothes...in drawers....shoes.....out of the suitcase......the joy of putting things away was one I could only vaguely touch in my state of exhaustion, but let me tell you how good it feels to have a place where my things belong. So good! But the unpacking had to end because my stomach was just not agreeing with the whole "not feeding it" thing, so I went and had a shower (thus further prolonging the "not feeding it") then started a movie, and then I attended to the hunger. I managed to drift off for a bit of a nap and was awakened by bird cries outside of my window. There are a few bird cries that could be defined as normal "tweet tweets" but there are a few others that caught me off guard. They sound more like flying, screaming reptiles than birds. Marcus says they're probably the crows. I stick with my idea of miniature flying dragons that hide in the trees. Oh, and speaking of scary things hiding in trees I was greatly surprised to find giant fruit bats napping in the trees in the parks down in Sydney's harbor. They're all just wrapped up in their little cocoons, and while I was staring up at them open-jawed in freakish wonder, the rest of the world continued walking on by and not paying them a bit of attention. Like fruit bats the size of a child's head are normal.
They are decidedly not normal for me, though I am starting to appreciate how creatures that scare me out of my wits aren't nearly as frightening to this population. Let me also add that after reading several Australian travel guides and seeing their sections on poisonous spiders, I now have this irrational fear that a spider is going to walk on up to me and decide I look delectable and take a bite out of me. I have been told that the spiders are not predatory and that I'm unlikely to see one let alone get bitten by one. I will continue to say this to myself as I sit on the outside couch reading in the sun imagining some spider wandering out of the cushion cracks and onto my poor skin.
Ew, enough of the scary bugs! Let's move on to happier things, like winter in Sydney. Winter...I have heard Marcus complain of the frigid weather for the past few months and I admit that I have also given into some whining about the coldness. But in all truthfulness, winter here is fabulous! The sun is gorgeous most days. In fact, I sat outside this morning for about an hour eating breakfast and reading ("Why Good Things Happen to Good People") and I got toasted! It was so hot that I was sweating. (This may also have had something to do with the fact that I didn't want to de-layer due to the previously-mentioned arachnophobia.) But as my courage grows, I will continue to spend more time outside because it's far too beautiful to stay inside. When I am inside, though, I tend to spend time in bed (well this is me we're talking about) and I've been looking out the window...
Hmm, see that powdery business at the bottom? Anyone want to take a stab at what that is? Fun little story...Marcus called me at about 3:30 in the morning his time a little over a month ago to say that his house had been broken into. You know how it gets even better? It was through our bedroom window. Yay, fun! That fun powder is the residue of the police's fingerprint dusting. But we now make sure that the window is always locked and the doors to the apartment recently received big ol' deadbolts. I don't feel particularly threatened, but that may be because Marcus' emergency response reactions are incredible. He heard his window opening up, and he immediately jumped out of his bed, kicked the would-be thief out of the window and the two burglars ran away from Marcus' booming threats at break-neck speed. I feel pretty safe with this guy.
On Saturday we took the train downtown where we strolled for a while. I was surprised at how empty the city was, very relaxed and laid-back. This may sound strange, but my impression of the city, this huge, international city, was...comfortable. And non-threatening. New York is huge and bustling with every inhabitant on their own busy way, very often with the high fashion, etc. Buenos Aires was pretentious with its fashion obsession and its constant observance of tourists (or this tourist, at least). But Sydney is so comfortable and non-threatening that I felt very at ease. And I finally made it down to the harbor. I was surprised to see that the Harbor Bridge was a bit smaller than I had expected, but the opera house was beautiful, the only way it could ever be.
Here I am, folks, I have made it down under!
Which brings me to an interesting little angle to this whole job search. I had lunch with one of my former bosses at CSF, Deborah, and she gave me some interesting advice. She told me not to do any more administrative work, that I should focus instead on finding a position in programming or policy. Administration is a comfortable thought to me right now, though I know it lacks the challenge I probably need. I suppose we'll see where I end up, now won't we? The impatient part of me is pushing me to send my resume in to a temp agency and ask specifically to work with non-prof's whereas the patient and perhaps more rational side of me is saying to wait and see where the feelers I have been putting out land me. For now, I will continue putting out feelers and I will wait.
Whew! That takes care of the functional side of things. Now onto the Australia part of things, those obvious and random observances I have been making since my arrival! First of all, the Australian visas are all electronic and there is nothing in your passport that shows you have permission to actually go to the country! After spending 45 minutes at the Sea-Tac airport in a state of moderate anxiety, I made my way over to the United desk and made sure that I crazy, and that in fact the visas were electronic, that it wasn't just my imagination. After slamming the passport reader against the desk and wall a few times (this ensures a high degree of trust in the reader, let me assure you) I was informed that my visas were valid and that I could actually go to Australia. Big sigh of relief. The flight was unnotable aside from the fact that I didn't go to the bathroom during the entire 14.5 hour flight. Not healthy, but hey, I'm doing alright on the other side! :)
I arrived in darkness, but on the other side of customs and an eternity of bag-waiting, the sun and a smiling though tired Marcus greeted me. Happy day! My first adjustment? Remembering to get in on the wrong side of the car. Drivers side is now passengers side and vice versa. Sitting inside of the car now feels a bit like a video game and my heart jumps into my throat not infrequently when making turns! I also am trying to adjust to walking on the left side of the sidewalk, which isn't quite as easy as it sounds. I drift a lot when I'm walking now...zig...zag...
I walked Marcus to the train station after dropping off my things and sitting down for a bit, then walked around the neighborhood (Erskinville) that is remarkably close to downtown.
I walked around, that is, until the fullness of my exhaustion and hunger reigned down upon me. I turned myself around, stopped into a produce stand and a little convenience store where I was horrified to find the prices so high!!! Seriously, not kidding even a little bit. Although one happy detail is that it is a convenience store and prices there are definitely higher than at a regular grocery store. I did get to go to a regular grocery store later (a Woolworth's--made me think of my dad who worked in Woolworth's way back in the day after he graduated from college!) and happily found that prices were a bit better (though still expensive) and there are a few normally-priced items. Grocery shopping in itself is a bit of a new adjustment to make as well, since the closest grocery store is about a 15-20 minute walk from the apartment. Not to mention that groceries are scarce in this household! That's a big change for me, the girl who (although she'd like to think she's mostly departed from her Mormon upbringing) has a mini-food storage supply in her kitchen cupboards at all times! I mean, I traveled around for the last month with Clif bars, granola bars, a giant bag of Trader Joe almonds, and a chocolate bar in her purse. Yes, all at once. I also ate my last Clif bar that I took in my bag to SA in the week before I flew back to the states. This girl likes to be prepared! Anyhew, I'm prepared on the baking front, I just need to stock up on my utensils now. :)After my first food-buying excursion, I returned to the apartment and spent the next hour or so putting my things away. Clothes...in drawers....shoes.....out of the suitcase......the joy of putting things away was one I could only vaguely touch in my state of exhaustion, but let me tell you how good it feels to have a place where my things belong. So good! But the unpacking had to end because my stomach was just not agreeing with the whole "not feeding it" thing, so I went and had a shower (thus further prolonging the "not feeding it") then started a movie, and then I attended to the hunger. I managed to drift off for a bit of a nap and was awakened by bird cries outside of my window. There are a few bird cries that could be defined as normal "tweet tweets" but there are a few others that caught me off guard. They sound more like flying, screaming reptiles than birds. Marcus says they're probably the crows. I stick with my idea of miniature flying dragons that hide in the trees. Oh, and speaking of scary things hiding in trees I was greatly surprised to find giant fruit bats napping in the trees in the parks down in Sydney's harbor. They're all just wrapped up in their little cocoons, and while I was staring up at them open-jawed in freakish wonder, the rest of the world continued walking on by and not paying them a bit of attention. Like fruit bats the size of a child's head are normal.
They are decidedly not normal for me, though I am starting to appreciate how creatures that scare me out of my wits aren't nearly as frightening to this population. Let me also add that after reading several Australian travel guides and seeing their sections on poisonous spiders, I now have this irrational fear that a spider is going to walk on up to me and decide I look delectable and take a bite out of me. I have been told that the spiders are not predatory and that I'm unlikely to see one let alone get bitten by one. I will continue to say this to myself as I sit on the outside couch reading in the sun imagining some spider wandering out of the cushion cracks and onto my poor skin.Ew, enough of the scary bugs! Let's move on to happier things, like winter in Sydney. Winter...I have heard Marcus complain of the frigid weather for the past few months and I admit that I have also given into some whining about the coldness. But in all truthfulness, winter here is fabulous! The sun is gorgeous most days. In fact, I sat outside this morning for about an hour eating breakfast and reading ("Why Good Things Happen to Good People") and I got toasted! It was so hot that I was sweating. (This may also have had something to do with the fact that I didn't want to de-layer due to the previously-mentioned arachnophobia.) But as my courage grows, I will continue to spend more time outside because it's far too beautiful to stay inside. When I am inside, though, I tend to spend time in bed (well this is me we're talking about) and I've been looking out the window...
Hmm, see that powdery business at the bottom? Anyone want to take a stab at what that is? Fun little story...Marcus called me at about 3:30 in the morning his time a little over a month ago to say that his house had been broken into. You know how it gets even better? It was through our bedroom window. Yay, fun! That fun powder is the residue of the police's fingerprint dusting. But we now make sure that the window is always locked and the doors to the apartment recently received big ol' deadbolts. I don't feel particularly threatened, but that may be because Marcus' emergency response reactions are incredible. He heard his window opening up, and he immediately jumped out of his bed, kicked the would-be thief out of the window and the two burglars ran away from Marcus' booming threats at break-neck speed. I feel pretty safe with this guy.On Saturday we took the train downtown where we strolled for a while. I was surprised at how empty the city was, very relaxed and laid-back. This may sound strange, but my impression of the city, this huge, international city, was...comfortable. And non-threatening. New York is huge and bustling with every inhabitant on their own busy way, very often with the high fashion, etc. Buenos Aires was pretentious with its fashion obsession and its constant observance of tourists (or this tourist, at least). But Sydney is so comfortable and non-threatening that I felt very at ease. And I finally made it down to the harbor. I was surprised to see that the Harbor Bridge was a bit smaller than I had expected, but the opera house was beautiful, the only way it could ever be.
Here I am, folks, I have made it down under!
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