Australia is the most hospitable place I've ever been

Have you ever been to a new city on vacation, for a new move, or otherwise and had that pain in the pit of your stomach about how well you'll be accepted and welcomed into the community?  Likely you've done a bit of research before arriving to learn the customs so as not to offend and make sure you don't stand out too badly.  You don't need to worry about that when you come to visit us in AU.  I've been astounded by the hospitality in this country.  From the warm welcome that David's co-workers have offered us (and I mean warm!  What a fun bunch!) to the time I had in Melbourne getting to know our AU HQ I'm happy and relieved to say I'm so comfortable here!

Don't get me wrong, there are many things that locals take for granted that we foreigners must learn.  For example, how does one write down a telephone number?  When given a number via phone, sure you can string the numbers together but just wait until you're asked to write a number in an email.  Where on earth do you put the spaces??  Here there are known tricks like dropping a leading zero when dialing internationally.  Cell phone numbers have 12 numbers.  Local phones have 8 numbers.  Hotline numbers (what's a hotline number??) have 6 numbers.  800 #'s have 13 characters... you get the picture.  How confusing!  

Another tricky thing is with language.  Sure we all speak English but different words are used for things:  Arugula lettuce = rocket; Red pepper = capsicum; Dude/guy = bloke; Football = "footie" = soccer, rugby (league or union) or Australian rules football (AFL) depending on who you're talking to and in what part of the country.  (Try being one of the only women in a sales office - I'm going to need to learn the teams and rules of all of these sports in order to have a conversation with anyone!)  Coffee = cafe = espresso, flat black, cappuccino (no more light-medium roast drip coffee for me!) The list goes on.  I've been mistaken for a Canadian more than once - when offering the correction I try to explain calling me a Canadian is like me assuming an Aussie is a Kiwi (New Zealander). ;)   

We're starting to learn about wine here (don't worry, there will be lots of trial and error during our stay ;))  So far we've learned the Barossa Valley in South Australia is an amazing region for Shiraz.  Note to self when visiting Total Wine in Atlanta ;)  

Like David, I feel as though we're on vacation.  Not sure how long that feeling will last but we're both looking forward to getting settled into an apartment and making it feel like ours.  Time to "nest" now that the wedding is over ;)

We miss you all!  

Smiles,

Linds

Not too bad...

What to say...we're 11 days into it, and things have been good.  Definitely a bit of an adjustment as we get used to the city (and grocery shopping), but it has been nice.  I still feel like I'm on vacation...I just hope it doesn't stop.

I figure today I'd start with things we've learned...I can't say the list is long, but let me see if I can hit the highlights:

• It's possible to fit everything you bought at the grocery store into two carry on suitcases
• I never thought I'd find a place where the beer is more expensive than the wine
• Living near the water really is all it's cracked up to be

So much more though...let's see if I can share a few of the stories.  The first would have to be the grocery shopping.  Quite amusing as we tried getting groceries for the first time...we knew we didn't want to carry them back, so what did we do...grabbed a couple of suitcases and filled them up.  Worked out quite nicely.

Next, looking for a place to live...not as easy as it looks.  It appears that Sydney is at the high end of the market right now (who would have guessed), but we are going out again this next weekend and hopefully we will settle in on something.  We are really looking forward to settling in...the hotel is nice, but I still feel like we're living out of a suitcase.

The highlight of the week though would have to be dinner at The Ocean Room.  Janine (one of the PGS expats) and Niels (her husband) were good enough to take us and a couple of the US visitors to the restaurant.  A bit of a surprise when Janine asked if we minded that she ordered for us, and are we glad she did...it was nothing short of AMAZING.  We had appetizers (I.e. Entre's), main courses and dessert, paired with several bottles on wine that Janine and Niels brought from their own personal collection. It was fantastic. I only hope we can find a way to pay them back for the experience...it's going to be a tough one.

Other than that, things are going well...I think the only bump so far has been the shipping. We've had to send / resend documentation on a couple of occasions, but I figure as long as it makes it...it was a success.  Then again if it doesn't all make it, then the good news is we get the insurance money to go shopping.  Dont' tell Lindsey...she might want to get it lost :-)

Anyway, another long blog...I think my next few are going to get shorter, but what can I say.  Lindsey is in Melbourne for 3 days, so I don't have much else going on...by the way, how is it she's already going to Melbourne, and I'm stuck here in Sydney...I'm jealous.  Back to drown my sorrows in the bottle of wine that costs less than that 6 back of beer...woohoo...talk to ya next time...

We're Here...

Well everyone...we've been working on the blog for about 3 weeks now, and as I've been such a slacker in setting up the site and putting up our first post, I guess I had better cover everything...got married, went on Honeymoon, packed the house, got on a plane, moved to Sydney.  Ok, I guess that covers it...check back here often for more posts :-)  

J/K...as much as I love to talk, I couldn't just leave it at that.  It has been a bit crazy though.

First, let's start with the wedding and honeymoon...I've told a few, but there is nothing we could have done differently that would have made the two any better.  It was amazing...one of my favorite parts was the dive to Lanai.  Before we ever got in the water we had spotted dolphins putting on a show for us my leaping out of the water 5-6-7 feet.  Then at one point on our second dive we had up to 30 spinner dolphins swimming around us.  Doesn't get more amazing than that.

As for the return...I guess the phrase, "the honeymoon is over with," is definitely an accurate phrase.  The packing of the house was definitely an adventure...you'll have to ask what Lindsey thought of it, but it was a bit stressful and wish it could have been a little smoother.  Honestly, I'm not sure what we could have done differently at this point, but I do know that we're going to have to do something differently next time.  Although, the odds makers in Vegas lost a lot of money on this move...the odds were pretty good that Lindsey and I were going to kill each other at some point, but it never happened.  Sorry vegas folks :-)

I think the toughest part of the process though was the paperwork, and figuring out what all was coming with us.  I've found Lindsey and I value different things, so after she got her valuables, and I got my valuables we had a whole lot of valuables.  Then the paperwork started.  I thought I had everything together, but found out that we needed separaate paperwork for our land shipment, and then our air shipment.  Same paperwork, just needed duplicates...wish I would have known that sooner, but even as of today our air shipment is sitting in a warehouse somewhere waiting on the paperwork for us to send.  Grrrrr.  And for those that know Lindsey, her spreadsheets didn't stop at the wedding...if you get a chance ask her for her inventory sheet.  The movers asked us for a valued inventory, and I was thinking 15 to 20 mintues of just filling out what's most valuable and important...well Lindsey took it literally, and there is now a huge spreadsheet of everything we own. Water bottles and all...if you ask her though, don't tell her I told you. :-)

Seriously though, after it's all said and done, we made it to Sydney safe, the air flight wasn't too painful, and we're already enjoying Sydney.  We had a chance to wander down towards the Opera House today, and we got to see a little bit of the town.  Today we're going to hop on the ferry and make our way up to Manly to check out the area and see if it's a good place for us to live.  I guess we'll just have to find out...

Anyway, stay tuned as I'm going to try and post once every couple of weeks (more often in the early parts of the trip), but we'll see how it goes.  Love everyone, and we'll talk to ya soon.

D&L