Lucky in Oz

Done!

Had I actually made a Gantt chart for moving to Melbourne, today I would be marking the FINAL task as complete. (Full disclosure: while I did not go so far as to create a project plan and generate an actual Gantt chart for our move ... I did make quite a detailed spreadsheet (in Google Docs – so that I could access it online ... always thinking, me) including fields for due dates, accountability assignments and predecessors.) So, today is a big, black diamond milestone day: I got my Victoria driver’s license! (Predecessors: get an address and collect proof of having had a licence in the States for >5 years ... tricky when WA DLs expire every 5 years. But! I saved my old one. (Thus: predecessor: unpack contents of file cabinets upon arrival of shipping container.) Public Service Announcement to readers moving from WA State to Vic: you can find instructions at www.dol.wa.govfor emailing a request for an official letter from DOL stating how long you had a license. I did that, just in case, because I am nothing if not anal thorough.)

The upshot is I no longer need to carry my passport and tenancy agreement around with me for proof of identity and address. I now have everything I need to function as a resident:

• Driver’s license

• Public health card (Medicare)

• Private health card (AHM)

• Eftpos / Bank card

• Library card

• YMCA membership card

• Metcard

Ok, technically those last three aren’t required. (Nor is the Boost Juice card ... but that certainly deserves a slot in my wallet - love me a Mega Mango!) I’m not sure how I’d function without a Metcard. We take the tram / train quite a lot (maybe I’m in a newly-arrived-from-the-only-major-US-city-without-rail-mass-transit honeymoon phase). Library: books are sooo expensive! (As in, it is cheaper to buy them on US Amazon and have them shipped here.) The Y? I like exercise I can just show up for. I’ve never been a runner. I prefer to walk into a gym / room / studio and have someone tell me “grapevine right and left then basic step, turn step, and over the top ladies! Looking good! One more time!” – preferably with 80s disco hits blaring. Thankfully, YMCAs are much like DMVs; you've seen one you've seen them all - those in the southern hemisphere are remarkably like those back up over there. Also in my wallet, but necessary only to busy body engaged moms, is my Working with Children card – required for volunteering in the classroom (it is very official looking – has a photo and everything). Not in my wallet but required to work here (no, I’m not working yet ... still trying to figure out the colour of the damn parachute, thankyouverymuch) is a Tax File Number, for which one applies online https://iar.ato.gov.au.

Jeez. Now it doesn’t seem like all that much. Why am I so relieved then?! The theoretical Gantt chart though of course did include school stuff and dog stuff and ... stuff stuff. And now it is all pretty much done! I guess it is kind of like childbirth – hindsight dulls the memory of all the pain and hard work and you think “well, that wasn’t so bad!” Of course, you don’t see me having any more babies do you? Nor do I expect you will see us packing up and doing the whole overseas relocation again any time soon!

My ship came in ...

(I really don't have a lot to say, I just wanted to use that title for a post.)

Indeed, our container arrived in the Port of Melbourne a couple weeks ago and spent some time in quarantine. (To answer my brother: no, we didn't go visit it.) It was cleared for delivery - hopefully my stash of Mexican food didn't get confiscated. What, you think I'm kidding? Hell no! I read on the expat message board that some staples of my diet may be hard to come by. So...

 

In prep for the imminent arrival of our 40' container worth of stuff, I bought a vacuum today. (I had mentioned on FB that we were considering getting a rhymes-with-zoomba (flying under the Google radar here) ... but decided against it after reading a bazillion reviews online. I'll be the vacuuming robot instead.) It will never be so easy to get in the corners and behind the furniture. Seeing as there is no furniture.

Did I never post photos of the stuff going in to the container on the other end? I guess not. Sorry. Here you go:

 

 

(Doesn't Hunter Boulevard look lovely? It was such a pretty place to live. Our bedroom was there in the front with the porch on top of the sun room. We would open the French doors and gaze out on the tops of the trees; the leafiness that is Seattle May through October. I spent a lot of time in bed listening to NPR gazing out with the word "verdant" running through my head.)

 

Yeah, we didn't quite fill the container. The whole three days that the packers were there I was beside myself with the fear that we would have, like, a tenth too much stuff to fit into a 20'. (Meaning we could have elected to spend a few thousand less on a smaller container and leave a bit behind.) Once you tell the shipping company what size container to order (based on their quote of course), you're committed. I think they packed it a bit not-so-tight so as to make it look fuller to shut me up. I was tempted to go back to Costco and buy a few cases of salsa verde when I saw we had some space. Instead I helped myself to a big glass of shiraz (see the bottle there to the left of Guy?) and said farewell to our furniture, rugs, books, clothing, Apilco, All-clad, etc. etc. etc.

I can't say I missed it all, all that much. For eight weeks I have been wearing the clothes I brought in my luggage and I can't even really remember what else I own (except that it fills a dresser and a few wardrobe boxes). Although, I am looking forward to my pots, pans and knives. And my stove-top popcorn popper. (That's why the Old Bay, BTW - I put it on popcorn.) And my Kitchen Aid mixer. So, I guess I'd be happy in life with three pairs of pants and a few t-shirts from Eddie rhymes-with-shower if only in a fully outfitted kitchen! Ok. Back to the vacuuming ...

How to: TOC

Ok, so I said that I would share the brain full of "how to move to Oz" knowledge that I accumulated over the last year or so ... but I am finding I kind of have PTSD and I get twitchy whenever I think of completing Visa medical checks or faxing stuff to USDA (former: for humans; latter: for dog) and consignment and craigslist and forex, oh my! But, maybe I can just hammer out some bullet points about what I can ultimately tell you about (once the medication kicks in). So, topics in the "How to ... " will include (probably. if I get around to it. don't hold me to it.):

• How to move yourself to Oz (a.k.a get a visa)
• ... move your pet to Oz
• ... move [some of] your money to Oz (or, establish the systems for doing so once you're down under without getting a crappy exchange rate)
• ... get rid of all the stuff that you don't want to move to Oz
• ... move the rest
• ... research where you want to settle yourself, your dog and your stuff once you get to Oz
• ... make sure your mail follows you (at least, the bits that you want)
• ... maintain some semblance of a financial presence in the US
• ... set yourself up for the first few weeks in Oz, before you're stuff arrives (to include a chapter on visiting the dog in quarantine - a twice-weekly activity that gives some meaning and structure to your otherwise random and disorienting life)

I'm sure I forgot something. But that was surprisingly cathartic! Who needs therapy when you've got Typepad!

One Week

Here's what I have learned so far:

• Raisin Bran is Sultana Bran
• Rice Krispies are Rice Bubbles (I have a photo to prove it ... but one thing  have not learned is how to download photos from my new mobile)
• Mobile means cell
• Cookies are biscuts
• Cart (as in that for luggage or groceries) = trolly
• It is a seven minute walk from the Spotswood train station to the quarantine facility
• "Zee" (as in the letter) is "zed"
• The pound sign is the hash sign
• There are no pennies. The smallest coin is 5 cents and everything is rounded.
• An electrical plug is not grounded it is earthed (I swear)
• Spring in Melburne is a bit warmer than in Seattle ... outside. But without central heating inside it feels much much colder.
• Spring in Melbourne smells a lot like in Seattle - which is wonderful. There is some kind of honeysuckleish thing blooming everywhere - mmmm. And, there are camellias and lavendar and a lot of familiar plants.

Things are good. We got phones, have looked at a house and a car and will likely purchase the latter (meaning that we will have sold and bought two white Subaru Outback wagons in as many weeks - on as many continents). We've looked at a couple schools and are leaning towards this one. It is small and not particularly state-of-the-art, but it is diverse (more so than it looks on its site) and friendly and they have a partial immersion program for Japanese. And we really like the neighborhood. Our house in Seattle is listed - so cross your fingers that it sells soon and we can start looking seriously here around Caulfield. In the meantime we are half-heartedly looking at rentals.

More soon (with photos if I can figure out the phone thing ... ) - promise!

EDITED TO ADD ... the photo! Ah, Bluetooth ...