Weeks 1 and 2

I am over two weeks in and need to do a little catch up on here.  Here are some highlights:

Two weeks ago on the day I got here, we went to Liam's friend's places and played Mölkky for a bit.  We headed back to Liam's place for dinner and then watched the newest Mission Impossible so I could stay up as long as possible and fight the jet lag.  My brain shut itself off a few times during the movie so I don't really remember it that well. The sweet relief of sleep came after the credits rolled.

The next day we went into town so I could get a metro card.  There was a parade going on which is Adelaide's welcome to the Christmas season.  It was a bit like the Macy's Day parade but a little smaller. Town was crowded due to the parade so we headed out to the beaches.  It was fairly windy so we mainly did a tour by car. There's a lot of beaches in Adelaide.

After a pit stop back at the house, we were going to go on what we thought was a simple walk in the hills.  After seeing other people in athletic clothing, we figured our jeans were not the best attire.  On the way back to town, we stopped at one of the local climbing spots to take a peak.

On Sunday we went to a party to celebrate the opening of Lucky's Beach Club.  The proceeds went to an organization that helps teens with cancer which was neat.  Fun day.

I got set up with an Australian bank account on Monday.  Later in the day we went and saw the new James Bond movie Spectre.  Although a bit too formulaic, it was entertaining.

On Friday, I got to go climbing outside.  It's been a while since I've climbed due to the accident and I'm definitely not in peak shape but it was great to get back on the rock.

For Thanksgiving, we had a good old fashioned Aussie barbie with kangaroo.  It was delicious.  Later on we went out to a fairly new club.  It was a really fun night.

I got a call on Friday from a nightclub asking if I was available the next day for a trial shift.  Being a little desperate for a job, I accepted.  The job is basically walking around the club, picking up empty glasses, washing said glasses, and making sure the bar is stocked.  It went well but it is a very odd feeling being in a club late at night completely sober.  The people watching is amazing.  I got asked back for next week so at least that's a little bit of money coming into the bank.  I'm definitely going to keep looking for other work.

Yesterday, Liam and I went to a cricket match at Adelaide Oval.  I still am not really sure how cricket actually works but I think I'm getting the basics down.  Fun fact, cricket games last five days.  This was day number three and if Australia won, they win the whole thing.  They won.

First wild kangaroo spotting at the cricket match...and a gorilla.

Some other notable things:

• Been to the local climbing gym twice now.  It's pretty small but has a great community vibe and decent routes.  I'm starting to learn the Australian grading system for routes
• Saw the new Hunger Games movie with Amy and Trent (Liam's sister and her boyfriend)
• Seen 5 or 6 wild koalas.  It's mildly odd seeing what looks like stuffed animals just hanging out in trees
• Got an Australian phone number set up
• Received my tax file number (kind of like social security) in the mail

Thanks for the picture, Amy

Now that this is caught up, I'm hoping to do these every week.

That's all for now.  Bye.

I MOVED TO AUSTRALIA!

Well there's really no eloquent way of saying this.  If you haven't figured it out from the title...

Holy crap this actually happened!

I moved to Australia! 

Such beautiful prose.  But let's rewind a couple of months...

Last July I visited Australia and fell in love. My original plan when I left the states was actually to stay in Oz but due to a number of circumstances, that didn't happen.  When I got back to the states, I wasn't happy.  The whole return trip I was thinking about how much of a mistake I was making coming back.  Returning to the same day to day life as before was pretty disheartening.  I couldn't imagine doing it for much longer and continued to research about moving to Australia.

The initial research began before the first trip.  I had a general idea about the logistics but really started the studies about two weeks before I came back to the states.  I was looking at places to rent, job offerings, how the visa worked, and lots of other little important details.

On September 5th, I applied for the Work and Holiday Visa. About 45 minutes later, I got an email saying my visa has been approved. I broke out my last package of Tim Tams and the celebration/minor freak out began.

A tip I found rummaging through online forums was to get certain certifications before looking for work. A few days later, I earned two certificates that basically allow me to serve alcohol/work in a place where there's gambling in Australia.  The "courses" were both online and incredibly easy. Some of the information was actually mildly interesting since laws are a bit different country to country.

Quite the setback presented itself in the middle of September when I took a bit of a fall and fractured part of my spine. I was out of work for 2 weeks which took a hit to the finances and I wasn't sure how long it would take to be healed. Would I be mended enough by November to travel for 30+ hours? Would I be able to carry a decently heavy backpack without keeling over? Luckily I made a speedy recovery and felt comfortable enough heading over with the almost healed injury.

The last major step was figuring out how I would get back to Australia. When I went the first time, it was pretty much the peak low season which made return airfare relatively cheap. As it was getting more towards southern hemisphere summer, that was no longer the case. Lucky for me, my magnificent Aunt Cindi happens to work for Delta and was able to hook me up with some ridiculously cheap tickets. Thanks Cindi! You're amazing!

There was a fair amount to do beforehand

The only caveat to the cheap airfare was I had to fly standby the whole way. Flying standby, you have no idea if you're getting on a flight or having to wait hours or even days to try for the next one. Since I didn't have a deadline to get to Australia, this wasn't that big of a deal.

A few days before leaving, I had to get my phone ready for use abroad. This seemed like an easy process but ended up being a huge pain. Basically, AT&T sucks. Long story short, it's still getting figured out.

"Down low" goodbye party. Thanks to whoever took this. Already missing some of the best people I've ever met.
Visit me!

On November 11th, I headed to PDX with my fingers crossed. I was able to make the flight to Los Angeles but the flight to Sydney had a bunch of people on standby with not a whole lot of seats available. Flying standby was a new experience for me. It's a very odd feeling not knowing if you are going to be flying.

Names of what I assumed to be standby travelers going to Sydney began to be called, allowing them on the flight. I knew my name was fairly far down the list but there was some hope. Each time the intercom turned on, the stomach got some butterflies and the heart pounded. Then it happened. The wonderful sound of the gate agent saying "all standby passengers have been cleared." I made the fight (and even scored a window seat)!

My cheap Delta ticket got me to Sydney but after that, I was on my own. After the wonderfully refreshing 15 hour flight to Sydney, I made my way to the domestic terminal and checked for flights to Adelaide leaving later in the day. That was also a new experience booking a plane ticket at the airport for the same day.

When I arrived in Adelaide, my buddy Liam who I met at CSU picked me up from the airport and we made way to his place.  That was it.  I made it through the weirdest traveling experience I have ever done!

Side note, huge thanks to the Rella family for letting me stay with them for a bit!

Now at this point you might be thinking, "But David, why didn't you post this stuff when it was actually happening?" Well, rest your curious little head because I'm about to tell you:

One night in late August I came up with the crazy idea to keep all of this on the semi-down low so when I got to Australia, I could surprise Vlad.  This happened today/yesterday depending on when/where you read from.  It's not very often you get to shock someone who lives on the other side of the world by showing up at a bar and saying "hey." Special shout out again to Liam for helping me with the surprise and to everyone who knew what was going on and kept the secret!

So what exactly am I doing? To be completely honest, I don't really know. Basically my visa allows me to stay in the country for a year traveling around and working. The only limitation to the work is I can only keep a job for 6 months at a time. The hope is to work in some sort of hospitality setting but I'll pretty much take whatever I can find. I'm starting in Adelaide since I know a few people but am open to moving around. After I get settled/readjusted, I'll start looking for hostels to stay in or possibly a place to rent, depending on the job situation. Other than that, I'm just going to see where things take me. 

Yes, this is slightly terrifying. Moving to the other side of the world without a job lined up, without a consistent place to stay, and without a massive amount of funds to live off is nerve-racking. That being said, I am not the first person to do this. Not to be too boastful but I consider myself to be pretty smart, self-sufficient, and resourceful. A massive part of my research before heading over was reading about other peoples' experience. If they could do it, why couldn't I? This actually is a once in a lifetime opportunity (unfortunately US citizens can only get an Australian work visa one time) and I really have nothing to lose. I can do this.

So yeah, here we go! This is going to be insane. I'm predicting heaps of good times, a few struggles, and the most adventurous year of my life. I'll try and post on here as much as possible. Same ways as always to stay in touch so please do (except I'll have an Australian phone number so you'll need that for the iPhone things)!

That's all for now. Bye.