hi guys,
i didn't realize people were really reading this... but i love that you are! I have been yelled at by a few folks about being a slacker in the updating department so I will pledge to update more often.
And I should have, as I have so much to share! Where to start?
First, the communication quirks at work just keep comin'. It's hilarity, really. One great example happened the other day: You guys know that my roommate/friend's name is Dawn, and at work I've mentioned her here and there as well. Well the other day I sent an email to some of my colleagues about an event that was happening...I was trying to figure out if it was a work-only thing or if I could invite Dawn... anyway not long after I sent the email I heard some hysterical laughing coming from my colleague Sarah. For the past three weeks she thought that Dawn's name was Donna, and I was just calling her "Don" for short. Now, the way I pronounce it, "Don" and "Dawn" sound the same. Don, Dawn, John... all the same. The Aussies pronounce Dawn really, ummmm.... lower and longer? I don't know how to explain it, or to do it myself. But the point is, they find it HILARIOUS how I pronounce her name. Now every day I hear them trying to say "Dawn" the way I do in this nasal twangy voice. It's hard to explain, but it was pretty funny.
Along those lines, it does make sense because they give nicknames to EVERYONE: Adam = Ads, Sarah = Sares, Andrea = Andy, Laurel = Loz (yes, I have my own nickname! I am excited about it). Regular words have nicknames too: breakfast = brekky/brecky/brekkie, brecki, reservation = rezzie, umbrella = brelly, tv = telly, football = footy. Not everything is "ie'd": Afternoon = arvo, presentation = prezzo. I think I've literally heard someone say "Don't forget to bring your brelly to the prezzo this arvo." Ridiculous.
Other fun stuff: "windscreen" is windshield (when i think of a screen, i think of something semi-permeable...do we really want that for our vehicle??), pram is a baby stroller, nappie is a diaper..... there are so many more. I will try to write them as they pop up... these little things make me smile throughout the day.
As for work, overall it is going really well. I am getting more acquainted with our clients and where we are in our work; I have been trying to implement some process/operational components to the team to help in streamlining things a bit. I am seeing some inefficiencies that won't really be scalable, so we're working on getting things buttoned up before we bring on more work. Overall, the work is really good. It's very similar to what I've done in the past, so I am definitely in a comfort zone...and my colleagues are great. The biggest challenge is literally me being a foreigner---how to understand the area codes when I dial the phone, how to lower my expectations of technology and IT, how to hold back a bit so I don't run people over with my big American personality. :-) So those are the big challenges that I'm having, and they are fun ones overall, but definitely still challenges. I think it's helping me become more well-rounded and see myself in another environment, which can't be a bad thing.
What else? My friend Andy came down from Sydney for the long weekend. It was Anzac Day. I'm starting to get a better understanding of the Anzac history, but here's a good overview for the history junkies. Anyway so we had a 3-day weekend so Andy came down to hang out with me and Dawn. We had a great time! We ate great food and drank great wine (some of my favorite pastimes), and yesterday Andy and I went on the Eureka Tower in downtown Melbourne. It's a skydeck on the 88th floor of the highest building in Melbourne. It's similar to Seattle's Space Needle or the Empire State Bldg. It has the highest elevator in the southern hemisphere... and it felt like it! You can get a 360 degree view of the city and surrounding areas...We went right when the sun was going down, so it was dark but really beautiful. I would like to check it out during the day as well.
Then last night Dawn's friend James invited us to see this Australian band play at a local venue...and they were awesome!!! I loved them. They were kind of Flogging Molly meets Green Day meets reggae. Sounds a little weird maybe, but awesome. The band is called The Go Set. Check 'em out.
Dawnie and I are now going to "rug up" (dress warmly) and go to the grocery store. I hope all is well Stateside!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
so far so good!
so far the job is going really well... three days in, but still. I have two guys that report to me and I really lucked out with them... my supervisor Andrea hired them in the past 4-5 months and they are already fantastic: good attitudes, smart and self-motivated....those are the 3 things that I have decided are imperative to a new hire, and both guys have all 3. So I feel very fortunate.
I'm also fortunate because my supervisor seems awesome. She's low-key but hard working, she's supportive, she's smart, she values my opinion... so far things are good!
My office has about 50 people and there is one English person and me, so definitely no other Americans. What's funny is, people will ask, "so where are you from?" and I'll respond, "well I'm from the U.S...." and they're like "well duh, we meant what state". hahah I didn't want to assume they knew I was American, especially since all of the Canadian questions I got last weekend. But then my colleague Xikan said that he always asks if people are Canadian because he doesn't want to offend the Canadians by asking if they're American. HA! So I was right. I guess it's offensive to be considered American.... quite funny.
So anyway then my answer to "where are you from?" is "well I grew up in Pennsylvania, it's a state in the East" and they are like "yeah I know where Pennsylvania is, what part of Pennsylvania?" Meanwhile, they've never been to the US in some cases, they just know all about the geography of our country I guess. At one point I said, "wow that's impressive, I'm pretty sure there are some Americans that don't know where Pennsylvania is." and my colleague goes, "well you can say it, not me...but I was thinking it." HAHAHAHA. wow. So eventhough people are joking a bit about the US, they're also very interested in our culture as well and they are really, really nice to me so far. I really can't complain at all.
The folks on my team and I are going to have a blast trying to figure out what we are saying. I was explaining my work background to the guys and said something like "I was responsible for all of it, soup to nuts." And one of them goes, "wait. did you just say 'soup to nuts'?" and i'm like, oh yeah i guess i did. and i don't know where it came from and really it does sound ridiculous now that i think about it!
then i went to borrow some scotch tape from my neighbor and said "hey i'm going to steal some of your tape." and he goes "no, sticky tape." me: "wait, what?" him: "not tape. sticky tape." me: "um ok....then what is just tape?" him: "ummmm dunno but not this. this is sticky tape." HAHAHAHA we were cracking up. there are so many examples of these that I'll have to try to remember when i get home from work every day; these little miscommunications really are a fun part of the day.
what else? dawn came home for the weekend but she takes off again tomorrow for a week. She's a traveling fool. She and I have had fun catching up over the weekend, and she has helped me run some errands that really require the use of a car.
i am finally getting set up with a blackberry this week, so those of you who have been asking for my number--i should have one soon. I also am going to try to get Skype and other chat programs up at work, so i can hit you guys up during my lunch break and/or can talk to peeps in the industry. I definitely would like to stay connected with people in the media world back in the US to be sure that i'm not missing out on new stuff... I'm a little worried that I will fall behind if I become only in sync with the local industry. Anyway, so that's a plan for this week as well.
otherwise, things are good! The commute is on the long-ish side, but Dawn thinks i'm being high-maintenance, I guess it's not long for here, haha. But it's about an hour or so, and I am hoping Brian and I can move a little closer to the city so we can cut that down a bit.
BTW, Brian just told me that all pets passed the blood titre test today! So that means the next step is having our relocation specialist fill out import forms and reserve their space at the quarantine station here in Melbourne. It also means that we can solidify Brian and the pets' flight date. yay!
i hope all is well on the homefront. :-)
I'm also fortunate because my supervisor seems awesome. She's low-key but hard working, she's supportive, she's smart, she values my opinion... so far things are good!
My office has about 50 people and there is one English person and me, so definitely no other Americans. What's funny is, people will ask, "so where are you from?" and I'll respond, "well I'm from the U.S...." and they're like "well duh, we meant what state". hahah I didn't want to assume they knew I was American, especially since all of the Canadian questions I got last weekend. But then my colleague Xikan said that he always asks if people are Canadian because he doesn't want to offend the Canadians by asking if they're American. HA! So I was right. I guess it's offensive to be considered American.... quite funny.
So anyway then my answer to "where are you from?" is "well I grew up in Pennsylvania, it's a state in the East" and they are like "yeah I know where Pennsylvania is, what part of Pennsylvania?" Meanwhile, they've never been to the US in some cases, they just know all about the geography of our country I guess. At one point I said, "wow that's impressive, I'm pretty sure there are some Americans that don't know where Pennsylvania is." and my colleague goes, "well you can say it, not me...but I was thinking it." HAHAHAHA. wow. So eventhough people are joking a bit about the US, they're also very interested in our culture as well and they are really, really nice to me so far. I really can't complain at all.
The folks on my team and I are going to have a blast trying to figure out what we are saying. I was explaining my work background to the guys and said something like "I was responsible for all of it, soup to nuts." And one of them goes, "wait. did you just say 'soup to nuts'?" and i'm like, oh yeah i guess i did. and i don't know where it came from and really it does sound ridiculous now that i think about it!
then i went to borrow some scotch tape from my neighbor and said "hey i'm going to steal some of your tape." and he goes "no, sticky tape." me: "wait, what?" him: "not tape. sticky tape." me: "um ok....then what is just tape?" him: "ummmm dunno but not this. this is sticky tape." HAHAHAHA we were cracking up. there are so many examples of these that I'll have to try to remember when i get home from work every day; these little miscommunications really are a fun part of the day.
what else? dawn came home for the weekend but she takes off again tomorrow for a week. She's a traveling fool. She and I have had fun catching up over the weekend, and she has helped me run some errands that really require the use of a car.
i am finally getting set up with a blackberry this week, so those of you who have been asking for my number--i should have one soon. I also am going to try to get Skype and other chat programs up at work, so i can hit you guys up during my lunch break and/or can talk to peeps in the industry. I definitely would like to stay connected with people in the media world back in the US to be sure that i'm not missing out on new stuff... I'm a little worried that I will fall behind if I become only in sync with the local industry. Anyway, so that's a plan for this week as well.
otherwise, things are good! The commute is on the long-ish side, but Dawn thinks i'm being high-maintenance, I guess it's not long for here, haha. But it's about an hour or so, and I am hoping Brian and I can move a little closer to the city so we can cut that down a bit.
BTW, Brian just told me that all pets passed the blood titre test today! So that means the next step is having our relocation specialist fill out import forms and reserve their space at the quarantine station here in Melbourne. It also means that we can solidify Brian and the pets' flight date. yay!
i hope all is well on the homefront. :-)
Monday, April 5, 2010
Man bags and mankinis are not manly. Just sayin'.
So I found my way to St. Kilda today, which is the main beach town of Melbourne. It probably isn't too far driving but since I am on public transportation, it took over an hour... about 25 minutes from Dawn's train station to downtown, and then the tram from downtown to the beach. I didn't mind though, not like I have anything else going on!
Side note: Dawn sent me an email telling me where her car keys are, and that I should feel free to take her car while she's gone. Is she nuts?! I still can't figure out which direction the cars are coming from when I'm walking, let alone getting behind the wheel. F that.... I need time to adjust before I am comfortable driving.
Anyway, so St. Kilda is a very beachy but posh town. Kind of like PB in San Diego, but with more of a North County vibe. There were lots of "bros", so in case I get nostalgic for So Cal, I know where to go. :-)
BUT I have a serious problem with some of the attire I saw on the dudes. A lot of the guys were bros as I said, so they had the surfery/skatery vibe... cool. A lot of them were just in like normal stuff... shorts and t-shirts and flip flops. Great. But some guys are dressing all Euro-ey, and that is not cool. No offense to Euro guys, but I can't hang with the man bags and the mankinis (aka speedos). What is the deal??? So some of the Aussies must think this is a hot look and all I have to say about that is, thank goodness I'm married, or I'd be single forever.
On a side note, if anyone spots Brian sporting a man bag or mankini...you can assume things aren't going well between us. haha!
All in all St. Kilda was cool, but the kind of place I'd like to visit for the afternoon, not to move to.
What else? The grocery store was finally open today and I did some real grocery shopping...although halfway through I had to remind myself that I didn't have a car in the parking lot and I was going to have to haul everything back 7 blocks to Dawn's... so I think I'm going to end up going to the store like every day or so. Life was like that in Boston, but it has been a while so I sort of forgot.
Other stuff: I am learning new words, but need Dawn to come home to translate for me. For example, I have heard the word "tosser" several times. Usage: "Neighborhood X is beautiful but full of tossers." ummmmm? Does this mean tool? Douchebag? Yuppies? Yeah, I'm not sure. I just know it's not a good thing.
I've also noticed that I have a harder time understanding immigrants in Australia than I did immigrants in the US. For example, I had an asian dude wait on me at the grocery store, and his accent was his original language (chinese? korean? not sure) plus Aussie english. I struggle with Aussie english a bit as it is, and then this guy is still working on it as well.... and I'm finding there are some real communication breakdowns. Whereas in the US, they are at least speaking American english, so it's easier to understand.... does that make any sense? Anyway so I feel bad because I think I'm coming across like a xenophobic white person, when really I'm just clueless.
Hopefully smiling and shrugging a lot will give me a pass.
Tomorrow is my last day of freedom before i start work!
Side note: Dawn sent me an email telling me where her car keys are, and that I should feel free to take her car while she's gone. Is she nuts?! I still can't figure out which direction the cars are coming from when I'm walking, let alone getting behind the wheel. F that.... I need time to adjust before I am comfortable driving.
Anyway, so St. Kilda is a very beachy but posh town. Kind of like PB in San Diego, but with more of a North County vibe. There were lots of "bros", so in case I get nostalgic for So Cal, I know where to go. :-)
BUT I have a serious problem with some of the attire I saw on the dudes. A lot of the guys were bros as I said, so they had the surfery/skatery vibe... cool. A lot of them were just in like normal stuff... shorts and t-shirts and flip flops. Great. But some guys are dressing all Euro-ey, and that is not cool. No offense to Euro guys, but I can't hang with the man bags and the mankinis (aka speedos). What is the deal??? So some of the Aussies must think this is a hot look and all I have to say about that is, thank goodness I'm married, or I'd be single forever.
On a side note, if anyone spots Brian sporting a man bag or mankini...you can assume things aren't going well between us. haha!
All in all St. Kilda was cool, but the kind of place I'd like to visit for the afternoon, not to move to.
What else? The grocery store was finally open today and I did some real grocery shopping...although halfway through I had to remind myself that I didn't have a car in the parking lot and I was going to have to haul everything back 7 blocks to Dawn's... so I think I'm going to end up going to the store like every day or so. Life was like that in Boston, but it has been a while so I sort of forgot.
Other stuff: I am learning new words, but need Dawn to come home to translate for me. For example, I have heard the word "tosser" several times. Usage: "Neighborhood X is beautiful but full of tossers." ummmmm? Does this mean tool? Douchebag? Yuppies? Yeah, I'm not sure. I just know it's not a good thing.
I've also noticed that I have a harder time understanding immigrants in Australia than I did immigrants in the US. For example, I had an asian dude wait on me at the grocery store, and his accent was his original language (chinese? korean? not sure) plus Aussie english. I struggle with Aussie english a bit as it is, and then this guy is still working on it as well.... and I'm finding there are some real communication breakdowns. Whereas in the US, they are at least speaking American english, so it's easier to understand.... does that make any sense? Anyway so I feel bad because I think I'm coming across like a xenophobic white person, when really I'm just clueless.
Hopefully smiling and shrugging a lot will give me a pass.
Tomorrow is my last day of freedom before i start work!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Easter wander
Most people are doing ham, lamb and fam for the weekend.... I am walking around in my own little bubble in a new place.
Today I decided to just walk. I had a general plan and some maps, but overall not a real agenda aside from interviewing neighborhoods for Brian and I to move to. :-) It was long but fun! I thought everything would be closed, but I feel like more stuff was closed on Good Friday than Easter Sunday...isn't that weird? Or maybe I was just in closed areas on Friday....because today there was still some stuff open and people around.
First I went to the town south of Dawn's neighborhood of Coburg. It's called Brunswick and Brian will love it I think. There are tons of bakeries, coffee shops, middle eastern stores, lebanese restaurants... I read later that Brunswick has a large Turkish and Lebanese population so it makes sense. The food there must be fantastic, and everything is very family-owned, hole-in-the-wallish. I really like that. The only negative I see is that it's only a few stops south of Coburg and I already think the commute to Dawn's is on the outside of my limit. I don't handle long commutes well, and I think I am probably 45 minutes door-to-door right now (we'll find out for sure on Wednesday). So we'll see about Brunswick, but it's definitely our style.
I also walked through the towns of Carlton and Fitzroy...both are cool. Fitzroy was appealing in particular...for my SD friends, it reminds me of a combo of OB and North Park (not by the water). Very hipster-ish, but a bit rugged too. I liked it.
I noticed a few things on my adventure today:
1) There is A 24-HOUR DRIVE THROUGH FLOWER SHOP in Carlton. Yes, for emergency flower needs. I should have taken a photo, I loved it.
2) Two people today asked me if I was from Canada. No one has yet to say "so you're from the States, huh?" or something like that. This makes me wonder
a) Do I talk like a Canuk?
b) Do I look or act like a Canuk? (don't know how they look or act different, just wondering)
c) (this is my vote) maybe they don't want to offend the Canadians by asking if they are American? I remember my Aussie friends Christel and Neroli telling me that they had a Canadian friend who got a bit annoyed when people assumed she was American.... but do Americans get annoyed if we are confused with Canadians? I didn't care, it just made me think. So maybe the Aussies have figured out that it's better to ask if we're Canadian than to assume that we're American..... that's fine, I'll just ask if they are Kiwis from now on. :-)
So that was my Easter. Talking to my parents and my hubby helped me remember that I am only sometimes in my own little bubble here.
Today I decided to just walk. I had a general plan and some maps, but overall not a real agenda aside from interviewing neighborhoods for Brian and I to move to. :-) It was long but fun! I thought everything would be closed, but I feel like more stuff was closed on Good Friday than Easter Sunday...isn't that weird? Or maybe I was just in closed areas on Friday....because today there was still some stuff open and people around.
First I went to the town south of Dawn's neighborhood of Coburg. It's called Brunswick and Brian will love it I think. There are tons of bakeries, coffee shops, middle eastern stores, lebanese restaurants... I read later that Brunswick has a large Turkish and Lebanese population so it makes sense. The food there must be fantastic, and everything is very family-owned, hole-in-the-wallish. I really like that. The only negative I see is that it's only a few stops south of Coburg and I already think the commute to Dawn's is on the outside of my limit. I don't handle long commutes well, and I think I am probably 45 minutes door-to-door right now (we'll find out for sure on Wednesday). So we'll see about Brunswick, but it's definitely our style.
I also walked through the towns of Carlton and Fitzroy...both are cool. Fitzroy was appealing in particular...for my SD friends, it reminds me of a combo of OB and North Park (not by the water). Very hipster-ish, but a bit rugged too. I liked it.
I noticed a few things on my adventure today:
1) There is A 24-HOUR DRIVE THROUGH FLOWER SHOP in Carlton. Yes, for emergency flower needs. I should have taken a photo, I loved it.
2) Two people today asked me if I was from Canada. No one has yet to say "so you're from the States, huh?" or something like that. This makes me wonder
a) Do I talk like a Canuk?
b) Do I look or act like a Canuk? (don't know how they look or act different, just wondering)
c) (this is my vote) maybe they don't want to offend the Canadians by asking if they are American? I remember my Aussie friends Christel and Neroli telling me that they had a Canadian friend who got a bit annoyed when people assumed she was American.... but do Americans get annoyed if we are confused with Canadians? I didn't care, it just made me think. So maybe the Aussies have figured out that it's better to ask if we're Canadian than to assume that we're American..... that's fine, I'll just ask if they are Kiwis from now on. :-)
So that was my Easter. Talking to my parents and my hubby helped me remember that I am only sometimes in my own little bubble here.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
I'm here!
Wow, it has been a crazy few weeks, but I am finally here in Melbourne!
Brian and I had such a great time in San Diego getting to see our friends and family.... each visit was way too short and there were many folks I would have liked to see, but I am grateful that I at least got to see some peeps before I took off. Thanks to everyone!
Skydiving was a total bust though. I didn't realize you could get 'winded out' of skydiving, but we did two days in a row. I was so nervous/excited on Saturday morning, and was even more so when we saw the first half of our group head up on the plane and then started to see the parachutes floating down towards us... but some of their landings didn't go to plan (some landed in the bushes instead of the landing area) because the wind had picked up when they were up there. So our group was unable to go. Brian, Josh and I even went early on Sunday to try again, but the gusts were just too strong. so I am bummed!! Now I am on a mission to jump out of a plane, and I am going to see what Melbourne has to offer once I get settled.
My flight on Tuesday wasn't bad at all. I totally lucked out and got my own row of 3 seats eventhough the flight was 70% full. Stretching out really helped with getting some sleep, as did the sleeping pill that I took. :-) What didn't help was the turbulence.... at one point I was eating my dinner and the bumps were so bad that my little pasta dish jumped right out of my hand and onto the floor. sucked. but besides the turbulence, it really was a good flight. Virgin makes 14 hours in the air as good as it could be.
I landed in Melbourne and got through immigration just fine. My visa is electronic so I have nothing visual to show for it (although I did print out my letter saying "congrats on your visa" just in case). Then I had to get my bags to go through customs. Brian and I decided that paying the extra $100 and bringing an extra 70 lbs was more cost-effective than shipping the same, so I had 3 big bags, plus a decent sized carry on, plus my laptop bag, plus my purse (they made me shove my purse in my laptop bag for the 3 minutes it took to get through security). Anyway, it's a lot of crap for just me to handle. I had a cart but it was still hard to maneuver and whatever....I had to put them all through a screening again and then load the cart back up... the screening dude was like "ummm that's a lot of luggage for just you" but i told him I was moving here and he said I made a good choice. :-)
My next project was trying to get online to call/contact Brian to let him know (and him let my parents know) that I was ok. I sat down and pulled out my laptop to use the wifi in the Melb airport, but my computer was dead. Awesome. So me and the big old cart of bags wandered around slowly until I found an outlet that didn't have a billion people standing next to it. Then I plugged in (smart of me to remember to keep my adapter in carry on--I was proud of myself!), but the plug kept falling out for some reason. So then I pulled my cart up so that it was sort of propping up the plug (i'm going into this detail because I want you to picture my jet lagged, sweaty, probably stinky, frustrated ass). So yay, I got the plug charging, then I put the laptop on top of the tower o' bags and tried to log into the airport wireless... and i couldnt get it to work. Kept saying "local only"...dunno. tried logging off, restarting, etc. ugh! My phone from the US didn't work and I didn't have my prepaid Aus phone figured out yet, so I thought I was running out of options...but then I remembered the prepaid wireless card I had bought the last time I was in Aus. I thought it was expired but I figured I'd try it anyway...and it worked! So I skyped Brian and let him know that all was ok.
From there, I grabbed a cab to Dawn's place (only $35, not too bad), and had no trouble getting in. Dawn is on a round-the-w0rld trip for work (various places in the US, Turkey, not sure where else) so I have been on my own the past few days.
So I landed here Thursday AM and it is now Saturday evening. The past few days I have really just been trying to get organized and get things figured out. On Thursday I opened my bank account and will get my card next week (yay). Yesterday was Good Friday and basically nothing was open (boo), but I wandered around and found some little local shops by Dawn's: middle eastern store, pastry shop, produce shop (yay). I also got realllllllly lost around Dawn's neighborhood trying to get from the little shops back to her house (double boo).
Today stuff was open and I got lots done. Got internet up and running! Got a temporary cell phone to tie me over until I start work and figure out if they are putting me on a phone plan. Got a tour of Virgin Active health club. Yes, that Virgin. I know, they have health clubs too, who knew??? I was wandering around downtown and walked past it and decided to get a tour, and I AM SO GLAD I DID. first, it is SICK. pools, climbing wall, yoga, pilates, tons of classes.... pretty sick. Also, my tour/sales guy was named Sean and I think I would like him to be my new gay boyfriend (sorry Kristian, don't be jealous). He and I really hit it off.
the downside to virgin active is that it's not cheap ($100/month), but all the research i'm doing shows that all clubs are around that price and a lot crappier... so we will see. i shall do some more research but sean and richard branson have struck a chord in my heart. :-)
I also found my office today, yay! it is going to be dangerous... it is so close to a zillion awesome-looking restaurants, bars and boutiques. i could do serious damage at lunchtime and after work!!
all in all, i am really excited and happy to be here. it's fun to explore anyplace, but especially the place that is your new home! So far I find Melbourne to be very vibrant and cosmopolitan (lots of musicians playing in the streets, lots of music and cultural stuff going on) and I am happy! All I need is a jewish hubby and a couple of four-legged beasts and life would be great!
ok this is a book. lates.
these guys were promoting their dive school and also were trying to reach the Guinness Book of World Records for being underwater the longest or something... it was cute to watch them interact with the kids.
this is my office! found it! I start Wednesday. :-)
Brian and I had such a great time in San Diego getting to see our friends and family.... each visit was way too short and there were many folks I would have liked to see, but I am grateful that I at least got to see some peeps before I took off. Thanks to everyone!
Skydiving was a total bust though. I didn't realize you could get 'winded out' of skydiving, but we did two days in a row. I was so nervous/excited on Saturday morning, and was even more so when we saw the first half of our group head up on the plane and then started to see the parachutes floating down towards us... but some of their landings didn't go to plan (some landed in the bushes instead of the landing area) because the wind had picked up when they were up there. So our group was unable to go. Brian, Josh and I even went early on Sunday to try again, but the gusts were just too strong. so I am bummed!! Now I am on a mission to jump out of a plane, and I am going to see what Melbourne has to offer once I get settled.
My flight on Tuesday wasn't bad at all. I totally lucked out and got my own row of 3 seats eventhough the flight was 70% full. Stretching out really helped with getting some sleep, as did the sleeping pill that I took. :-) What didn't help was the turbulence.... at one point I was eating my dinner and the bumps were so bad that my little pasta dish jumped right out of my hand and onto the floor. sucked. but besides the turbulence, it really was a good flight. Virgin makes 14 hours in the air as good as it could be.
I landed in Melbourne and got through immigration just fine. My visa is electronic so I have nothing visual to show for it (although I did print out my letter saying "congrats on your visa" just in case). Then I had to get my bags to go through customs. Brian and I decided that paying the extra $100 and bringing an extra 70 lbs was more cost-effective than shipping the same, so I had 3 big bags, plus a decent sized carry on, plus my laptop bag, plus my purse (they made me shove my purse in my laptop bag for the 3 minutes it took to get through security). Anyway, it's a lot of crap for just me to handle. I had a cart but it was still hard to maneuver and whatever....I had to put them all through a screening again and then load the cart back up... the screening dude was like "ummm that's a lot of luggage for just you" but i told him I was moving here and he said I made a good choice. :-)
My next project was trying to get online to call/contact Brian to let him know (and him let my parents know) that I was ok. I sat down and pulled out my laptop to use the wifi in the Melb airport, but my computer was dead. Awesome. So me and the big old cart of bags wandered around slowly until I found an outlet that didn't have a billion people standing next to it. Then I plugged in (smart of me to remember to keep my adapter in carry on--I was proud of myself!), but the plug kept falling out for some reason. So then I pulled my cart up so that it was sort of propping up the plug (i'm going into this detail because I want you to picture my jet lagged, sweaty, probably stinky, frustrated ass). So yay, I got the plug charging, then I put the laptop on top of the tower o' bags and tried to log into the airport wireless... and i couldnt get it to work. Kept saying "local only"...dunno. tried logging off, restarting, etc. ugh! My phone from the US didn't work and I didn't have my prepaid Aus phone figured out yet, so I thought I was running out of options...but then I remembered the prepaid wireless card I had bought the last time I was in Aus. I thought it was expired but I figured I'd try it anyway...and it worked! So I skyped Brian and let him know that all was ok.
From there, I grabbed a cab to Dawn's place (only $35, not too bad), and had no trouble getting in. Dawn is on a round-the-w0rld trip for work (various places in the US, Turkey, not sure where else) so I have been on my own the past few days.
So I landed here Thursday AM and it is now Saturday evening. The past few days I have really just been trying to get organized and get things figured out. On Thursday I opened my bank account and will get my card next week (yay). Yesterday was Good Friday and basically nothing was open (boo), but I wandered around and found some little local shops by Dawn's: middle eastern store, pastry shop, produce shop (yay). I also got realllllllly lost around Dawn's neighborhood trying to get from the little shops back to her house (double boo).
Today stuff was open and I got lots done. Got internet up and running! Got a temporary cell phone to tie me over until I start work and figure out if they are putting me on a phone plan. Got a tour of Virgin Active health club. Yes, that Virgin. I know, they have health clubs too, who knew??? I was wandering around downtown and walked past it and decided to get a tour, and I AM SO GLAD I DID. first, it is SICK. pools, climbing wall, yoga, pilates, tons of classes.... pretty sick. Also, my tour/sales guy was named Sean and I think I would like him to be my new gay boyfriend (sorry Kristian, don't be jealous). He and I really hit it off.
the downside to virgin active is that it's not cheap ($100/month), but all the research i'm doing shows that all clubs are around that price and a lot crappier... so we will see. i shall do some more research but sean and richard branson have struck a chord in my heart. :-)
I also found my office today, yay! it is going to be dangerous... it is so close to a zillion awesome-looking restaurants, bars and boutiques. i could do serious damage at lunchtime and after work!!
all in all, i am really excited and happy to be here. it's fun to explore anyplace, but especially the place that is your new home! So far I find Melbourne to be very vibrant and cosmopolitan (lots of musicians playing in the streets, lots of music and cultural stuff going on) and I am happy! All I need is a jewish hubby and a couple of four-legged beasts and life would be great!
ok this is a book. lates.
these guys were promoting their dive school and also were trying to reach the Guinness Book of World Records for being underwater the longest or something... it was cute to watch them interact with the kids.
this is my office! found it! I start Wednesday. :-)Monday, March 22, 2010
Australia, Skydiving and Justin Bieber
So, the intensity has been turned up. Last Tuesday I got word that my visa was approved! Brian and I bought a flight right away (didn't even run it by my new company, just wanted to pull the trigger), and I am flying out of LAX a week from tomorrow, on March 30th. I land in Melbourne in the morning of April 1.
We are leaving Arizona this Friday for San Diego and Brian will take me up to LA on Tuesday. The details are still being worked out, but one thing I do know is WE ARE GOING SKYDIVING on Saturday. WOOOT to the WOOOOOOT!! I am STOKED. A little nervous, but really excited.
Funny thing is, I didn't expect Brian to do it with me. He hates roller coasters, he hates all of the adrenaline kind of rides... so I assumed I would go without him. But when I was calling to put down my deposit the other day and reserve my spot, he says reluctantly, "go ahead and reserve for me too...." all rolling his eyes and acting like I'm making him go see "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" or some bullshit. I'm like, "dude, don't go if you aren't into it. It's kinda expensive, you don't like heights... no big deal." His reply? "I don't want to feel like a pussy since my wife did it and I didn't."
Ummmmm I feel like that's the wrong reason to jump out of a plane from 18,000 feet, but ok.
So we will see if he wusses out or whines the whole time or what. But I am super excited!! I just hope the dude who's going to be strapped to my back isn't on a suicide mission. :-)
As for Justin Bieber? Ok so I was watching the View today (yes, I watch the View. Yes, I know that's lame. What can I say? I'm a sucker for those ladies), and they had on Justin Bieber. And I have heard of this little dude, but didn't know what the deal was about him, just knew he was like the male Miley Cyrus where all the little teenyboppers are all about him. I wasn't really paying attention at first, but then I started listening to him in his interview. He's so polite? He's articulate! He's 16! (Who knows what kind of monster he'll be in few years, but right now he's a sweetheart) Then I heard him sing..... no wonder Usher and Justin Timberlake were fighting over signing his little ass. He's a great singer. Is it bad that I kinda want to download the song he sang on the View?
I know, I'm 32 years old and have a crush on a 16 year old... at least I haven't gotten into the Twilight bullshit.
Back to reality. Tomorrow I am opening an IRA with two 401(k) rollover accounts, going to the bank, making a Target run, and....what am I forgetting?.... oh yeah, PACKING. blahhhhhhhh
We are leaving Arizona this Friday for San Diego and Brian will take me up to LA on Tuesday. The details are still being worked out, but one thing I do know is WE ARE GOING SKYDIVING on Saturday. WOOOT to the WOOOOOOT!! I am STOKED. A little nervous, but really excited.
Funny thing is, I didn't expect Brian to do it with me. He hates roller coasters, he hates all of the adrenaline kind of rides... so I assumed I would go without him. But when I was calling to put down my deposit the other day and reserve my spot, he says reluctantly, "go ahead and reserve for me too...." all rolling his eyes and acting like I'm making him go see "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" or some bullshit. I'm like, "dude, don't go if you aren't into it. It's kinda expensive, you don't like heights... no big deal." His reply? "I don't want to feel like a pussy since my wife did it and I didn't."
Ummmmm I feel like that's the wrong reason to jump out of a plane from 18,000 feet, but ok.
So we will see if he wusses out or whines the whole time or what. But I am super excited!! I just hope the dude who's going to be strapped to my back isn't on a suicide mission. :-)
As for Justin Bieber? Ok so I was watching the View today (yes, I watch the View. Yes, I know that's lame. What can I say? I'm a sucker for those ladies), and they had on Justin Bieber. And I have heard of this little dude, but didn't know what the deal was about him, just knew he was like the male Miley Cyrus where all the little teenyboppers are all about him. I wasn't really paying attention at first, but then I started listening to him in his interview. He's so polite? He's articulate! He's 16! (Who knows what kind of monster he'll be in few years, but right now he's a sweetheart) Then I heard him sing..... no wonder Usher and Justin Timberlake were fighting over signing his little ass. He's a great singer. Is it bad that I kinda want to download the song he sang on the View?
I know, I'm 32 years old and have a crush on a 16 year old... at least I haven't gotten into the Twilight bullshit.
Back to reality. Tomorrow I am opening an IRA with two 401(k) rollover accounts, going to the bank, making a Target run, and....what am I forgetting?.... oh yeah, PACKING. blahhhhhhhh
Thursday, March 11, 2010
bday wishes
thanks to everyone for the bday wishes today... makes me feel good to know that i have such good friends all over the place! it helped make it a good day.
it was a pretty basic day, btw. i walked the boys, talked to some folks on the phone, treated myself to a mani/pedi and went out for bbq with brian and his parents... all in all, a great day!
Plans for this weekend include going to the Renaissance Festival in Apache Junction, AZ and seeing Alice in Wonderland.
(me chomping on a turkey leg at the Renaissance Festival)
as for australia, everyone keeps asking when i'm going and it's so frustrating to have the answer of "i don't know yet". I was told I had to purchase health insurance for Brian (even though he won't be in Melbourne full-time until mid-August), so I did that on Tuesday morning. The insurance company is then supposed to email me a confirmation letter for me to send to my visa agent that proves that we have paid. I guess they can't move forward with the visa until they receive that letter... and of course, i still haven't received the letter. I called the company again yesterday and they said they were backed up on requests and it might not go out for a few days.... and the agent won't give me a better idea of the timing of when my visa will get finalized until she receives that letter. And I can't buy a ticket or make any real plans until I get an estimate from her.
So I'm getting frustrated, but I talked to Andy yesterday (who's my American friend in Sydney), and he said that I'll get there soon enough and not to stress about it. Good advice I think. Anyway, so for my SD peeps, the plan is for me to fly out of LAX, probably on a Monday night or Tuesday night. So Brian and I will come out to SD on Thursday or Friday and spend the weekend hanging out with our SD friends before Brian takes me to LAX for my flight. Sooooo.... it might be the weekend of March 25th-28th, or maybe the following weekend which I think is Easter.
So I will keep you guys posted for sure!
In the meantime, I am still getting stuff together here. Made several trips to Goodwill over the last few days and continuing to separate stuff into four piles: donate, storage, ship to Australia, take to Australia now. It's all a bit overwhelming but we're plugging away!
Also, tomorrow I take all four clowns to the vet (dogs in the AM, cats in the PM...can't handle all of them at once). This is when they all get their blood drawn for rabies, call a "titre test". Assuming that everyone comes back positive (0r negative i guess...whatever, the way we want them to), tomorrow will be Day 1 of the 5 month quarantine in the US. So that puts the pets and Brian coming to Melbourne around August 8th or 9th. Not ideal, but not terrible.
That means that I will most likely only live with Dawn for about four months; hopefully she won't want to kill me by then!
On a much more important note, the Steelers. Yes, I know that it is very much the offseason, but stuff is going down. I am not happy about the Ben Roethlisberger situation, although it is interesting that he had two cop buddies with him (along with Willie Colon, who supposedly was cuttin' it up on the dance floor the whole time and didn't see "the incident"). But the cop buddy thing could be interesting: either they are F'ed because they're kicking it with an assailant (i know, awesome word!), or else it might mean that he actually didn't do shit because he cop buddies were around and wouldn't have let it happen . Anyway, it's interesting.
On a positive Steelers note, I am stoked that we are keeping Ryan Clark and that we signed back Randel El again. We need serious help in special teams, so i'm hoping Randel El will be the man for that. I am a little worried about Mike Wallace... I thought he did well last season and really might deserve the third WR spot... but I am not concerned about keeping Limas Sweed. I get a punk/wuss vibe from him, so whatevs. Update: now I am really over him, wtf??
Lastly, I just saw the premiere of Lady Gaga's 9-minute "Telephone" video, and I hate to admit that it was pretty entertaining. Her music is the kind of thing that gets stuck in my head and is catchy, but I would never go buy it.... but I still kinda like her in a wackadoodle kind of way. The video was definitely a bit nutso... but i liked it.
I also like Chelsea Handler.
I am now done being narcissistic.
(I. Me. My. I. I. Me. All. About. Me. hehe)
it was a pretty basic day, btw. i walked the boys, talked to some folks on the phone, treated myself to a mani/pedi and went out for bbq with brian and his parents... all in all, a great day!
Plans for this weekend include going to the Renaissance Festival in Apache Junction, AZ and seeing Alice in Wonderland.
(me chomping on a turkey leg at the Renaissance Festival)
as for australia, everyone keeps asking when i'm going and it's so frustrating to have the answer of "i don't know yet". I was told I had to purchase health insurance for Brian (even though he won't be in Melbourne full-time until mid-August), so I did that on Tuesday morning. The insurance company is then supposed to email me a confirmation letter for me to send to my visa agent that proves that we have paid. I guess they can't move forward with the visa until they receive that letter... and of course, i still haven't received the letter. I called the company again yesterday and they said they were backed up on requests and it might not go out for a few days.... and the agent won't give me a better idea of the timing of when my visa will get finalized until she receives that letter. And I can't buy a ticket or make any real plans until I get an estimate from her.
So I'm getting frustrated, but I talked to Andy yesterday (who's my American friend in Sydney), and he said that I'll get there soon enough and not to stress about it. Good advice I think. Anyway, so for my SD peeps, the plan is for me to fly out of LAX, probably on a Monday night or Tuesday night. So Brian and I will come out to SD on Thursday or Friday and spend the weekend hanging out with our SD friends before Brian takes me to LAX for my flight. Sooooo.... it might be the weekend of March 25th-28th, or maybe the following weekend which I think is Easter.
So I will keep you guys posted for sure!
In the meantime, I am still getting stuff together here. Made several trips to Goodwill over the last few days and continuing to separate stuff into four piles: donate, storage, ship to Australia, take to Australia now. It's all a bit overwhelming but we're plugging away!
Also, tomorrow I take all four clowns to the vet (dogs in the AM, cats in the PM...can't handle all of them at once). This is when they all get their blood drawn for rabies, call a "titre test". Assuming that everyone comes back positive (0r negative i guess...whatever, the way we want them to), tomorrow will be Day 1 of the 5 month quarantine in the US. So that puts the pets and Brian coming to Melbourne around August 8th or 9th. Not ideal, but not terrible.
That means that I will most likely only live with Dawn for about four months; hopefully she won't want to kill me by then!
On a much more important note, the Steelers. Yes, I know that it is very much the offseason, but stuff is going down. I am not happy about the Ben Roethlisberger situation, although it is interesting that he had two cop buddies with him (along with Willie Colon, who supposedly was cuttin' it up on the dance floor the whole time and didn't see "the incident"). But the cop buddy thing could be interesting: either they are F'ed because they're kicking it with an assailant (i know, awesome word!), or else it might mean that he actually didn't do shit because he cop buddies were around and wouldn't have let it happen . Anyway, it's interesting.
On a positive Steelers note, I am stoked that we are keeping Ryan Clark and that we signed back Randel El again. We need serious help in special teams, so i'm hoping Randel El will be the man for that. I am a little worried about Mike Wallace... I thought he did well last season and really might deserve the third WR spot... but I am not concerned about keeping Limas Sweed. I get a punk/wuss vibe from him, so whatevs. Update: now I am really over him, wtf??
Lastly, I just saw the premiere of Lady Gaga's 9-minute "Telephone" video, and I hate to admit that it was pretty entertaining. Her music is the kind of thing that gets stuck in my head and is catchy, but I would never go buy it.... but I still kinda like her in a wackadoodle kind of way. The video was definitely a bit nutso... but i liked it.
I also like Chelsea Handler.
I am now done being narcissistic.
(I. Me. My. I. I. Me. All. About. Me. hehe)
Sunday, March 7, 2010
slack ass
oh, i have been quite the slacker on the ol' blog.... i blame my 'rents... they were here last week and were a (great) distraction.
so yeah, it was great to see dave and linderella. they came out a week from thursday, 2/25 and left on tuesday, 3/2. They stayed with Brian's parents since we would have nothing but an air mattress to offer them after giving away all of our spare bedroom furniture! the six of us went up to prescott to Paul and Paula's place and hung out with Brian's Nana and Zeyda... it was a great time. We ate, went wine tasting, wandered around in the woods, ate, played in the snow with the doggies and ate. My idea of a good weekend....
This past week we have been finishing up our super shopping spree since everything is so freakin expensive in Aus... I am proud of myself... I have become quite the little patient bargain shopper.... I am hoping I can continue to be patient after starting work full-time again. :-) In the past, my idea of shopping went like this: "I like the outfit that mannequin has on. Do you have all of that in my size? Ok I'll take it. Yes all of it." This is not because I don't like to be frugal, it's more because I just don't have to patience to put a cute outfit together... but in my old age I am getting better. I think my fashion consultant Katie would be proud of me too. :-)
Today was a great day. Paula and Paul had a little going away/birthday open house for me this afternoon. We hung out with Bubbi and Dean, Ken, Roe and Ruth, Harold, Lisa and Taylor and the other Lisa (Von Bargen). Thanks to everyone for coming out today!
This week's agenda is to make a trip or two to Goodwill (we have a gigantic box to donate and I am starting to need the space for sorting other stuff), take the pets to the vet for their blood draw for the quarantine process, and hopefully nail down when I'm going so we can buy my ticket. I am starting to get a bit restless re: not knowing exactly when I'm supposed to go. I heard from our visa agent chick last week and she said I passed the first step, but I don't really have a frame of reference for how many more steps there are, how long they'll take, etc.
We want to go to San Diego before my flight, so the plan is to drive to SD on a Friday and then Brian drive me up to LAX most likely on a Tuesday... but I don't know if it will be two, three or more weeks! Frustrating. I want to make plans. But I got a sweet job in Australia, I need not complain.
Oh another thing Brian and I have been doing is looking at what car to buy when he finally gets to Melbourne. We want a small SUV with enough space in the back to put the pups for weekend trips, similar to what we do with our XTerra now. Right now we are most interested in the Nissan XTrail, Nissan Dualis and the Subaru Forester. Any opinions?
so yeah, it was great to see dave and linderella. they came out a week from thursday, 2/25 and left on tuesday, 3/2. They stayed with Brian's parents since we would have nothing but an air mattress to offer them after giving away all of our spare bedroom furniture! the six of us went up to prescott to Paul and Paula's place and hung out with Brian's Nana and Zeyda... it was a great time. We ate, went wine tasting, wandered around in the woods, ate, played in the snow with the doggies and ate. My idea of a good weekend....
This past week we have been finishing up our super shopping spree since everything is so freakin expensive in Aus... I am proud of myself... I have become quite the little patient bargain shopper.... I am hoping I can continue to be patient after starting work full-time again. :-) In the past, my idea of shopping went like this: "I like the outfit that mannequin has on. Do you have all of that in my size? Ok I'll take it. Yes all of it." This is not because I don't like to be frugal, it's more because I just don't have to patience to put a cute outfit together... but in my old age I am getting better. I think my fashion consultant Katie would be proud of me too. :-)
Today was a great day. Paula and Paul had a little going away/birthday open house for me this afternoon. We hung out with Bubbi and Dean, Ken, Roe and Ruth, Harold, Lisa and Taylor and the other Lisa (Von Bargen). Thanks to everyone for coming out today!
This week's agenda is to make a trip or two to Goodwill (we have a gigantic box to donate and I am starting to need the space for sorting other stuff), take the pets to the vet for their blood draw for the quarantine process, and hopefully nail down when I'm going so we can buy my ticket. I am starting to get a bit restless re: not knowing exactly when I'm supposed to go. I heard from our visa agent chick last week and she said I passed the first step, but I don't really have a frame of reference for how many more steps there are, how long they'll take, etc.
We want to go to San Diego before my flight, so the plan is to drive to SD on a Friday and then Brian drive me up to LAX most likely on a Tuesday... but I don't know if it will be two, three or more weeks! Frustrating. I want to make plans. But I got a sweet job in Australia, I need not complain.
Oh another thing Brian and I have been doing is looking at what car to buy when he finally gets to Melbourne. We want a small SUV with enough space in the back to put the pups for weekend trips, similar to what we do with our XTerra now. Right now we are most interested in the Nissan XTrail, Nissan Dualis and the Subaru Forester. Any opinions?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
who's blacker, snoop or charles barkley?
that is seriously what the topic is on the George Lopez show.... never saw this show before but i was compelled to watch this one.
Snoop's pissed because Barkley is 75% sub-saharan african and Snoop is 71% sub-saharan african. they actually seemed stoked to get their DNA done... i don't know if I think it's awesome or ridiculous.
BTW, George Lopez's monologue was a whole lot of not funny. i wasn't impressed, although I did like him giving Snoop a Josh Grobin CD because "that's what white people like".
Re: the Australia stuff, I have had a pretty productive few days! I got all of our documents scanned and sent in for the visa paperwork, and today I had to drive down to Tucson to get my passport expedited. $150 and 8 hours later, I now have an updated passport! I had never gotten around to changing my last name on my passport...didn't figure we were going out of the country any time soon.... but obviously that got bumped up on the priority list.
I also bought health insurance for myself today, because they need proof of me being covered to submit for the visa. So without fully understanding their system, I am now a proud owner of some random Australia health insurance plan.
What else? I posted my Prelude on Craigslist and have heard from several folks so far... I have a few people coming over on Saturday to take a look at it. So hopefully we'll be down one car and have some cash in our pockets soon. :-)
ok it's getting late... peace!
Snoop's pissed because Barkley is 75% sub-saharan african and Snoop is 71% sub-saharan african. they actually seemed stoked to get their DNA done... i don't know if I think it's awesome or ridiculous.
BTW, George Lopez's monologue was a whole lot of not funny. i wasn't impressed, although I did like him giving Snoop a Josh Grobin CD because "that's what white people like".
Re: the Australia stuff, I have had a pretty productive few days! I got all of our documents scanned and sent in for the visa paperwork, and today I had to drive down to Tucson to get my passport expedited. $150 and 8 hours later, I now have an updated passport! I had never gotten around to changing my last name on my passport...didn't figure we were going out of the country any time soon.... but obviously that got bumped up on the priority list.
I also bought health insurance for myself today, because they need proof of me being covered to submit for the visa. So without fully understanding their system, I am now a proud owner of some random Australia health insurance plan.
What else? I posted my Prelude on Craigslist and have heard from several folks so far... I have a few people coming over on Saturday to take a look at it. So hopefully we'll be down one car and have some cash in our pockets soon. :-)
ok it's getting late... peace!
Monday, February 15, 2010
lots o' stuff to figure out
today was filled with figuring crap out; really basic stuff like: what visas am I eligible for? how do I get my passport renewal expedited? How does Australia's health insurance system work?
So, yeah. I don't have it all figured out yet, but I'm working on it. Re: the visa, I am getting sponsored on a 457 visa, which is the main employer-sponsored visa. Brian will be my dependent on this visa and it allows him to be able to work wherever he wants, so long as I don't get laid off. If I happen to get laid off, then I have like 3-4 weeks to find another company to sponsor me, or else we get deported. But assuming that doesn't happen, I believe our visa is valid for 4 years and then can be renewed with some B.S. involved. All in all the 457 is a good visa; there are also some great tax benefits to account for the fact that we also will (potentially) owe taxes in our home country as well. It's a good thing there are so many tax loopholes in the US to help us out with that. :-)
So there is a bunch of stuff I am in the process of gathering for the 457 visa: marriage certificate, birth certificates, proof of work history, blah blah. Most of it is easy, but the main thing I'm working on now is my passport renewal. When we got married I changed my social security card, driver's license and checking account, but figured we wouldn't be traveling for a while and didn't get around to doing the passport. Now it's REALLY URGENT. So I figured out a little way that may help expedite things: I was told to have my future employer send a letter stating that I need to change my passport ASAP, and for an additional fee I can make an appointment at the closest state department office, which is in TUCSON. blahhhhhhh. Whatever, anyway so I am hoping this will work. I might be taking a trip tomorrow, we'll see.
So the thing about the 457 is it takes a while to get pushed through, so my company was hoping to get me another visa to be a temporary one until the 457 gets approved... but it appears that the only option is one for 18-30 year olds, and since i'll be 32 in less than a month (yes, I'm old...suck it!) I'm not sure yet when I'm going... but we are still shooting for the 2nd week in March.
The last piece is the health insurance, and it has been a doozy so far. Brian and I aren't eligible for their public health system since we're considered long-term visitors, so we are responsible for paying for private insurance. This is required for the visa, which is cool with me, except for the fact that their system is soooo much different from here.... I'm sure I'll get it eventually, but for now I am trying to figure it all out at lightning speed so I can purchase it for the visa. Questions I'm running into are: do I want to pay extra to go to a private hospital if we have an emergency, or is the public hospital good enough? How does the prescription plan work? It sounds like the insurance carriers cover up to an amount on a list...but where's the list? Whose list is it? What do they consider "pre-existing conditions" (brings me shudders from all of the healthcare debates here in the US)?
Anyway, my head is kinda spinning, but I'm sure I'll get it all sorted out.
On a much more important note, I am trying to figure out how much money I am allocating toward my new handbag fund (they are very fashiony in Melbourne, and clothes and stuff are super expensive in Australia, so I am going on a shopping spreeeeeeeeeee). I have unfortunately fallen in love with quite a few beautiful bags and am having a hard time narrowing them down.
Oh woe is me, my life is so hard! Haha feel free to put me in my place.
Ok the Olympics are over for the night, so peace!
So, yeah. I don't have it all figured out yet, but I'm working on it. Re: the visa, I am getting sponsored on a 457 visa, which is the main employer-sponsored visa. Brian will be my dependent on this visa and it allows him to be able to work wherever he wants, so long as I don't get laid off. If I happen to get laid off, then I have like 3-4 weeks to find another company to sponsor me, or else we get deported. But assuming that doesn't happen, I believe our visa is valid for 4 years and then can be renewed with some B.S. involved. All in all the 457 is a good visa; there are also some great tax benefits to account for the fact that we also will (potentially) owe taxes in our home country as well. It's a good thing there are so many tax loopholes in the US to help us out with that. :-)
So there is a bunch of stuff I am in the process of gathering for the 457 visa: marriage certificate, birth certificates, proof of work history, blah blah. Most of it is easy, but the main thing I'm working on now is my passport renewal. When we got married I changed my social security card, driver's license and checking account, but figured we wouldn't be traveling for a while and didn't get around to doing the passport. Now it's REALLY URGENT. So I figured out a little way that may help expedite things: I was told to have my future employer send a letter stating that I need to change my passport ASAP, and for an additional fee I can make an appointment at the closest state department office, which is in TUCSON. blahhhhhhh. Whatever, anyway so I am hoping this will work. I might be taking a trip tomorrow, we'll see.
So the thing about the 457 is it takes a while to get pushed through, so my company was hoping to get me another visa to be a temporary one until the 457 gets approved... but it appears that the only option is one for 18-30 year olds, and since i'll be 32 in less than a month (yes, I'm old...suck it!) I'm not sure yet when I'm going... but we are still shooting for the 2nd week in March.
The last piece is the health insurance, and it has been a doozy so far. Brian and I aren't eligible for their public health system since we're considered long-term visitors, so we are responsible for paying for private insurance. This is required for the visa, which is cool with me, except for the fact that their system is soooo much different from here.... I'm sure I'll get it eventually, but for now I am trying to figure it all out at lightning speed so I can purchase it for the visa. Questions I'm running into are: do I want to pay extra to go to a private hospital if we have an emergency, or is the public hospital good enough? How does the prescription plan work? It sounds like the insurance carriers cover up to an amount on a list...but where's the list? Whose list is it? What do they consider "pre-existing conditions" (brings me shudders from all of the healthcare debates here in the US)?
Anyway, my head is kinda spinning, but I'm sure I'll get it all sorted out.
On a much more important note, I am trying to figure out how much money I am allocating toward my new handbag fund (they are very fashiony in Melbourne, and clothes and stuff are super expensive in Australia, so I am going on a shopping spreeeeeeeeeee). I have unfortunately fallen in love with quite a few beautiful bags and am having a hard time narrowing them down.
Oh woe is me, my life is so hard! Haha feel free to put me in my place.
Ok the Olympics are over for the night, so peace!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
happy V day!!
Brian and I have a new obsession: HDTV and the DIY channels (we especially love House Hunters International). The only reason we can come up with is because we're moving eventually (well me soon, him eventually) and get to organize a new place.... not demo it and renovate but you know, decorate and stuff. But we also just like it because there are some dumb-ass people on these shows and we like to make fun of them: "I can totally renovate my kitchen in four days. By myself. Without having any construction experience. Or having any real plan." Let's see how that works out for you, Bro. hahahaha
Anyway. I took the GMAT last week. I didn't do awesome, but I didn't blow it either. I did well enough to get into Thunderbird, which was the main objective. So yay. Now I need to get motivated to write my essays before the 28th.... we'll see how that goes.
In the meantime, I have been working with my recruiter to solidify my employment contract. He came to me on Thursday with a HOT MESS of a contract... probably wasn't his fault, but still... all the crap we talked about wasn't in there. So technically I guess I still am not 100% going to Melbourne....but I am hopeful that Dale and the HR peeps will get their shiz together and get me a contract that I can sign. Everyone keeps asking when I'm going, and the answer is....not sure yet. I am shooting to start work either the 15th or 22nd of March, which means I'll leave like 5 days before that.... but those dates will get pushed back if the contract takes forever.
In the meantime, we are trying to sort stuff into piles: what is getting sold/donated, what is going into storage, what is getting shipped to Melb when Brian leaves, what is going to go in our luggage. It has been kind of a pain in the ass but we are plugging away.
On a side note
, I
finished some quilts for my bff Kasey! (actually, they're for her kids Sarp and Demet.) I am sending them to her this week... not sure if you tell from these pics, but Sarp's has planets and Demet's has ladybugs. :-) She doesn't know they are getting them, so I hope they like them!
What else? Dave and Linderella (aka my 'rents) are coming to Phoenix on February 25th through March 2nd. We are planning on heading up to Prescott one last time for a while (for me, anyway), and then my mom said she'd help me sort stuff.... the 'rents just wanted to see us one more time before we head off to the eastern hemisphere! They are excited for us....I think my mom has even come around to the whole thing. Since we are on a 3-4 year plan, I think it's less scary to her that we'll be gone forever.
On a last note, my man made me an awesome dinner for V-day....we had broccoli soup for an appetizer, then grass-fed NY strip steak with scallops, asparagus and fennel polenta, and poached pears with vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert. FANTASTIC. Also, we drank some wine from Portugal and drank some port from Temecula for dessert. All in all it was such a great dinner. It puts my gift of a card with jelly bellys and gummy bears to shame. :-)
Anyway. I took the GMAT last week. I didn't do awesome, but I didn't blow it either. I did well enough to get into Thunderbird, which was the main objective. So yay. Now I need to get motivated to write my essays before the 28th.... we'll see how that goes.
In the meantime, I have been working with my recruiter to solidify my employment contract. He came to me on Thursday with a HOT MESS of a contract... probably wasn't his fault, but still... all the crap we talked about wasn't in there. So technically I guess I still am not 100% going to Melbourne....but I am hopeful that Dale and the HR peeps will get their shiz together and get me a contract that I can sign. Everyone keeps asking when I'm going, and the answer is....not sure yet. I am shooting to start work either the 15th or 22nd of March, which means I'll leave like 5 days before that.... but those dates will get pushed back if the contract takes forever.
In the meantime, we are trying to sort stuff into piles: what is getting sold/donated, what is going into storage, what is getting shipped to Melb when Brian leaves, what is going to go in our luggage. It has been kind of a pain in the ass but we are plugging away.
On a side note
, I
finished some quilts for my bff Kasey! (actually, they're for her kids Sarp and Demet.) I am sending them to her this week... not sure if you tell from these pics, but Sarp's has planets and Demet's has ladybugs. :-) She doesn't know they are getting them, so I hope they like them!What else? Dave and Linderella (aka my 'rents) are coming to Phoenix on February 25th through March 2nd. We are planning on heading up to Prescott one last time for a while (for me, anyway), and then my mom said she'd help me sort stuff.... the 'rents just wanted to see us one more time before we head off to the eastern hemisphere! They are excited for us....I think my mom has even come around to the whole thing. Since we are on a 3-4 year plan, I think it's less scary to her that we'll be gone forever.
On a last note, my man made me an awesome dinner for V-day....we had broccoli soup for an appetizer, then grass-fed NY strip steak with scallops, asparagus and fennel polenta, and poached pears with vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert. FANTASTIC. Also, we drank some wine from Portugal and drank some port from Temecula for dessert. All in all it was such a great dinner. It puts my gift of a card with jelly bellys and gummy bears to shame. :-)
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Menagerie
Well Brian and I ran into a little quagmire last week when we started researching companies that move pets internationally. We knew that pets had to be quarantined for 30 days in Australia, and had decided that in the long run, it would be fine for the pets and would make us happy to have them with us.
But after talking with some specialists, we found out that not only do the pets have to be in quarantine for 30 days in Australia, they have to be held in their own country for 150 days on top of that! Basically the deal is that Australia doesn't have rabies...never has...and they have a really strict policy on bringing animals into the country. They used to require everyone to put their pets in a 180 day quarantine (their quarantine is like a boarding facility, so it's not a horrible experience...but having your pets in a boarding place for 6 months is just sad). Now they allow for the first five months to be served in the home country and the last month still needs to be served in the facility in Aus.
And the 150 day ticker doesn't start until the have tested negative for rabies, which is usually administered 4 weeks after they have been vaccinated against rabies....
What all of this means is that Brian and I had a lot of figuring out to do... do we get rid of the pets? Do we find someplace for them to go for 5 months? But ultimately what we decided to do is keep the pets here in AZ with Brian until the 150 days are up. That means that I will be going to Melbourne around mid-March, but Brian won't be coming until mid-August most likely. He will plan on coming out for a week or so halfway in between.
I am going to miss him!! I am really bummed that we're going to be separated for that long, but we both think that this is the best solution to the problem overall. It also is a better financial decision because I will be staying with our friend Dawn for a few months, which will give me time to research neighborhoods and save money....no point in moving into a big place for the whole fam until everyone gets down here. :-)
So... that's the latest.
Also, on a side note, I am taking the GMAT tomorrow. You would think I would be excited/anxious/something since I have been preparing for it for so long, but I am pretty 'blah' about it. I am trying to get some good studying in today and then a good night's sleep....and then hopefully I'll do ok! I have been slacking a bit in the studying department, but I hope that won't affect my score too much.
PS Glad the Saints won last night....but I do sorta feel bad for Peyton... he looked so depressed. How am I going to live without football?? The good news is my recruiter is a big american football fan and he said he'd help me figure out how to get the games when the season starts next year, so yay for us. :-)
But after talking with some specialists, we found out that not only do the pets have to be in quarantine for 30 days in Australia, they have to be held in their own country for 150 days on top of that! Basically the deal is that Australia doesn't have rabies...never has...and they have a really strict policy on bringing animals into the country. They used to require everyone to put their pets in a 180 day quarantine (their quarantine is like a boarding facility, so it's not a horrible experience...but having your pets in a boarding place for 6 months is just sad). Now they allow for the first five months to be served in the home country and the last month still needs to be served in the facility in Aus.
And the 150 day ticker doesn't start until the have tested negative for rabies, which is usually administered 4 weeks after they have been vaccinated against rabies....
What all of this means is that Brian and I had a lot of figuring out to do... do we get rid of the pets? Do we find someplace for them to go for 5 months? But ultimately what we decided to do is keep the pets here in AZ with Brian until the 150 days are up. That means that I will be going to Melbourne around mid-March, but Brian won't be coming until mid-August most likely. He will plan on coming out for a week or so halfway in between.
I am going to miss him!! I am really bummed that we're going to be separated for that long, but we both think that this is the best solution to the problem overall. It also is a better financial decision because I will be staying with our friend Dawn for a few months, which will give me time to research neighborhoods and save money....no point in moving into a big place for the whole fam until everyone gets down here. :-)
So... that's the latest.
Also, on a side note, I am taking the GMAT tomorrow. You would think I would be excited/anxious/something since I have been preparing for it for so long, but I am pretty 'blah' about it. I am trying to get some good studying in today and then a good night's sleep....and then hopefully I'll do ok! I have been slacking a bit in the studying department, but I hope that won't affect my score too much.
PS Glad the Saints won last night....but I do sorta feel bad for Peyton... he looked so depressed. How am I going to live without football?? The good news is my recruiter is a big american football fan and he said he'd help me figure out how to get the games when the season starts next year, so yay for us. :-)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
It's Official!
Brian came home last night and we made our official decision--Australia, here we come! I was calling Dale the recruiter while Brian was updating his facebook status with "HOLY BALLS, WE'RE MOVING TO AUSTRALIA!". hahahaha
Now I am getting a zillion questions about the situation from friends and family....which makes sense considering we just told everyone that we plan to stay in Arizona and for me to get my MBA. Things do change quickly I guess!
Anyway, I'm feeling less stressy today and much more excited. So much so that concentrating on studying for the GMAT has been nearly impossible. I take it next Tuesday, 2/9, and I am totally slacking in the studying department.
We're still not sure when we're going... we're thinking the 2nd or 3rd week in March. And actually that's when I'll go--Brian will most likely stick around here a few weeks longer and tie up loose ends. And yes, we are taking the menagerie, also known as Marley, Odin, Sambuca and Olive. It's pricey to bring them, and they have to stay in quarantine for 30 days, but we have decided overall that it's best for everyone. I truly can't imagine living without them and I read that most people are very happy they made the decision to bring them, despite being nervous like we are.
I think they treat the animals well in quarantine, and luckily we are allowed to go see them and play with them, so Brian will go often so they don't feel abandoned and I'll pop over when I can.
I'm going to stay with my friend Dawn for two weeks or so, and I will hopefully find a place to live before Brian gets out there... We are looking for a large 2 or 3 bedroom place with a backyard for the clowns, and close to a train station so I can commute to work and Brian can have the car. We only want to have one car...that's all we should need really. BTW, the 2 or 3 bedroom factor is specifically for guests, SO START SAVING BITCHES!!! hehe.
What else? Brian is currently looking into online options for going to school--we were thinking about enrolling him in the University of Melbourne or something but my visa status still considers us "long-term visitors" so we would have to pay tuition out the ass. But we will technically still be residents of AZ, so he's thinking of going to ASU Online or something like that, and then working part time. But that might not happen until he's around for a month or so and we are settled in the new place.
Just talked to our 'rents, and it sounds like they will come out to AZ before we leave. It will be good to see them and maybe we'll put them to work. :-) We would also like to head out to San Diego, so I'll keep you posted on timing for that guys.
Ok going to get some In N Out. What? They don't have it in Australia. I need to stock up. :-)
Now I am getting a zillion questions about the situation from friends and family....which makes sense considering we just told everyone that we plan to stay in Arizona and for me to get my MBA. Things do change quickly I guess!
Anyway, I'm feeling less stressy today and much more excited. So much so that concentrating on studying for the GMAT has been nearly impossible. I take it next Tuesday, 2/9, and I am totally slacking in the studying department.
We're still not sure when we're going... we're thinking the 2nd or 3rd week in March. And actually that's when I'll go--Brian will most likely stick around here a few weeks longer and tie up loose ends. And yes, we are taking the menagerie, also known as Marley, Odin, Sambuca and Olive. It's pricey to bring them, and they have to stay in quarantine for 30 days, but we have decided overall that it's best for everyone. I truly can't imagine living without them and I read that most people are very happy they made the decision to bring them, despite being nervous like we are.
I think they treat the animals well in quarantine, and luckily we are allowed to go see them and play with them, so Brian will go often so they don't feel abandoned and I'll pop over when I can.
I'm going to stay with my friend Dawn for two weeks or so, and I will hopefully find a place to live before Brian gets out there... We are looking for a large 2 or 3 bedroom place with a backyard for the clowns, and close to a train station so I can commute to work and Brian can have the car. We only want to have one car...that's all we should need really. BTW, the 2 or 3 bedroom factor is specifically for guests, SO START SAVING BITCHES!!! hehe.
What else? Brian is currently looking into online options for going to school--we were thinking about enrolling him in the University of Melbourne or something but my visa status still considers us "long-term visitors" so we would have to pay tuition out the ass. But we will technically still be residents of AZ, so he's thinking of going to ASU Online or something like that, and then working part time. But that might not happen until he's around for a month or so and we are settled in the new place.
Just talked to our 'rents, and it sounds like they will come out to AZ before we leave. It will be good to see them and maybe we'll put them to work. :-) We would also like to head out to San Diego, so I'll keep you posted on timing for that guys.
Ok going to get some In N Out. What? They don't have it in Australia. I need to stock up. :-)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Crikey! Are we moving to Aus?
hahaha... i don't even think Australians say 'crikey'.
Anyway, I just got off the phone with my recruiter, and Brian and I have a big decision to make tonight. I got an offer from MediaCom in Melbourne...they are an international media buying agency with offices all over the place, including Australia, Europe and a handful in the U.S. They would like to bring me on board as their Interactive Direct Marketing Manager (or something along those lines).... I'm under the impression that the U.S. is quite a bit more advanced in the ecommerce/performance-based advertising area, and it sounds like my background could really be useful for this office. It sounds like they're excited to have me!
It's all just so crazy.... many of you know that since I got laid off from MEA around Christmas of 08, I have been trying to get a job in Australia (actually before I got laid off, shhhhh... :-) ) Anyway, after several trips down under and tons of interviews, meetings, calls, emails, etc. I basically gave up because people were just unable to get me a visa. They all said I was great, but when push came to shove, they were unable to get authorization from the government to get me a visa.
After a lot of thought (and after the buzz of our wedding and honeymoon died down), Brian and I decided that I would apply to Thunderbird to start Fall of 2010. Going to business school at Thunderbird (which is right here in Glendale and has an MBA program focused on global management) has always been a dream of mine, so we decided to trade the Australia dream in for the Thunderbird dream.
I enrolled in a very expensive, but very necessary GMAT prep course with Princeton Review, and have been studying my butt off. I am scheduled to take the GMAT next Tuesday, February 9th! I also have been working on my essays, gathering recommendations, etc. Additionally, I met with the Thunderbird folks last week and the adviser said that as long as I did ok on the GMAT, I could/would get accepted to Thunderbird. I would be enrolled full time and it's almost a 2 year program.
But then a wrench got thrown into the b-school plans.... I got a call out of the blue from a recruiter in Melbourne looking to fill this position! It was such a mindf*ck. I was completely thrown by the whole thing... they don't seem to be concerned at all about the visa... and we had done most of our research in Sydney, so I really don't know as much about Melbourne.... but luckily my friend Dawn is there.... and then there are the pets... and the moving costs... and I am still enrolled in the GMAT, so I really should be studying..... Anyway, it's all a little much. But then again, I realize that I really shouldn't be feeling stressed, I should be STOKED.
So I am stoked. I'm also stressed.
There is so much to figure out... but Brian and I dont have to figure it all out tonight I suppose. So..... yeah! We'll see.
Anyway, I just got off the phone with my recruiter, and Brian and I have a big decision to make tonight. I got an offer from MediaCom in Melbourne...they are an international media buying agency with offices all over the place, including Australia, Europe and a handful in the U.S. They would like to bring me on board as their Interactive Direct Marketing Manager (or something along those lines).... I'm under the impression that the U.S. is quite a bit more advanced in the ecommerce/performance-based advertising area, and it sounds like my background could really be useful for this office. It sounds like they're excited to have me!
It's all just so crazy.... many of you know that since I got laid off from MEA around Christmas of 08, I have been trying to get a job in Australia (actually before I got laid off, shhhhh... :-) ) Anyway, after several trips down under and tons of interviews, meetings, calls, emails, etc. I basically gave up because people were just unable to get me a visa. They all said I was great, but when push came to shove, they were unable to get authorization from the government to get me a visa.
After a lot of thought (and after the buzz of our wedding and honeymoon died down), Brian and I decided that I would apply to Thunderbird to start Fall of 2010. Going to business school at Thunderbird (which is right here in Glendale and has an MBA program focused on global management) has always been a dream of mine, so we decided to trade the Australia dream in for the Thunderbird dream.
I enrolled in a very expensive, but very necessary GMAT prep course with Princeton Review, and have been studying my butt off. I am scheduled to take the GMAT next Tuesday, February 9th! I also have been working on my essays, gathering recommendations, etc. Additionally, I met with the Thunderbird folks last week and the adviser said that as long as I did ok on the GMAT, I could/would get accepted to Thunderbird. I would be enrolled full time and it's almost a 2 year program.
But then a wrench got thrown into the b-school plans.... I got a call out of the blue from a recruiter in Melbourne looking to fill this position! It was such a mindf*ck. I was completely thrown by the whole thing... they don't seem to be concerned at all about the visa... and we had done most of our research in Sydney, so I really don't know as much about Melbourne.... but luckily my friend Dawn is there.... and then there are the pets... and the moving costs... and I am still enrolled in the GMAT, so I really should be studying..... Anyway, it's all a little much. But then again, I realize that I really shouldn't be feeling stressed, I should be STOKED.
So I am stoked. I'm also stressed.
There is so much to figure out... but Brian and I dont have to figure it all out tonight I suppose. So..... yeah! We'll see.
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