Good things

Just this year I counted seven flights that I have been on. Five of which were purely for immigration purposes. Now, I'm not writing this post to hate on the immigration policies or  the people working for that part of the government in any way but gosh how happy I am to be out of it for now! Yes you got it my visa has finally arrived and my last mandatory trip, this time to Singapore, has come to an end. In order to get a second tourist visa after staying in Perth for three months I left for bali just over three months ago. I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on how different two countries so close to one and other are. Bali, while hot and humid just like Singapore was definitely less urbanized, clean and organised. Although both countries smelled a lot like the pungent sweet and sour fruit durian. While I was in Bali I tried the creamy smelly fruit and decided it wasn't my cup of tea, but then walking through Singapore you get confronted with the smell wherever you go, except on public transport. Singapore's public transport was absolutely fantastic. There were signs all around stating the amount of the fine you would receive if you would eat or drink in any of the public transport station and trains. Just FYI it ranged from S$500  to S$1000. This, no doubt, contributed to the cleanliness of the stations. The cleanliness and the asian feel, smell and shops reminded me more than just a little of Japan and in particular Tokyo. The tall buildings and the large amount of people on their perfectly timed public transportation made me feel homesick for a country I haven't been to in years. This all compared to Bali where public transport was pretty non-existent and all transportation was done with taxis and illegal rides on the back of scooters.  Scooters which flooded the streets and were a big part of the scenery on every road. As a place to stay in Singapore I chose a Hostel for Backpackers on Lavender street. The room had four beds and was only meant for women. The WiFi was included and there was free toast with jam and coffee available in the mornings. The nightly fees were very reasonable and the city was only two train stops away. All around the city there were massive malls filled with restaurants, for me it wasn't difficult to pick Japanese cuisine often but for anyone else the choice could be overwhelming. All in all I would say Singapore has been a positive experience and I even met some people who I could consider friends.

However, I must say, the best part of all was coming back to Perth after five days and having received my partner visa. As soon as I got back I started applying for jobs, I got a bank account now and once I get the bankpas I can get my drivers license changed to a Western Australian one. Ah how good it is to be a recognised resident as I'm sure Nombeko could relate although her case is much more extreme.

Immigration is always so intimidating.

On a different note I would like to introduce you all to our new friends: Ajax and Emma (cats). It's been so nice to have them around in our very own apartment. I have a lot of things to be happy and grateful for lately and I couldn't have gotten here without the help of the people I love. My mind has gone to some dark and pessimistic places in the last year or so but right now I really can't complain about much (I'm sure I can find something if I try really hard). Let's just hope things will only get better right?

Ajax is white with a ginger tail!

Also one last anecdote I would like to share, I had a dream last night where my boyfriend got a new job and they were making him sign an agreement where he would have to pay 50 dollars a day to have his uniform cleaned. I thought this was absolutely unacceptable so I had an argument with his boss which ended with him punching me in the face. I reported it to the police and decided to sue them for millions of dollars!  Ha! I didn't know I had turned into an American.

Lots of Love

Time Flies

It has been a while since I wrote something on here. I think the reason I haven't is because I always feel the need to write about something interesting that's happened in my life and until now the definition of interesting was challenged by my activities. It has been a little over 6 months now that we moved here to Perth and my visa still hasn't come through at the time I'm writing this post. Unfortunately while my isn't here yet I'm only in the country on a tourist visa and I'm not allowed to work. Yay forever holiday! You might think, but after about a month or so or perhaps even sooner you'll start having trouble finding things to do and become bored, a couch potato and grasp at things that are even remotely interesting. I have always liked having hobbies and I've had a fair few sports related, arts or music related, tv or game related hobbies. However I've never had the chance to completely immerse myself in my hobbies and do them full-time instead of just on the side. In the first few weeks I went through a phase where I would buy some cheap wines, take off their label and stick them in a scrapbook where I wrote down how the price-quality was and whether we should buy this one again. Of course I realised that I didn't drink enough wine to keep me interested in this particular hobby unless I took up a whole different type of 'hobby'. Luckily I decided to take up painting again, learn a new instrument (ukulele) and learn how to knit. These are the things that have been keeping me busy as well as going to family events and (trying to) keep the house clean.

Something's that's kept me going was looking forward to going back home. Just about a week ago my boyfriend and I came back from our trip to The Netherlands where we stayed for almost three weeks for my cousin's wedding. It was nice seeing my family and friends again. The time spent back home went incredibly fast, it was so enjoyable that it slipped through my fingers. Of course it helped that I constantly had something to do, somewhere to go or someone to meet. It gives you a sense of purpose. And I think that is what I need, I need a sense of purpose. I have been trying to find it in my hobbies and even trying to make some friends but it's hard to make friends without something equivalent to a job or a study. Of course I thought about volunteer work but it's darn harder to find than you'd think. In fact I thought volunteering at Greenpeace would be fun only to find out you need a work visa to volunteer! I found a few other things but nothing I particularly wanted to do or had any chance of meeting people (like waking up at 5 to walk the seniors to the mall). I mean I guess I'm not such a noble person that I didn't want something out of volunteering, social contact (preferably people around my age). One thing I am immensely grateful for (sheer luck) is that I get along with my boyfriend's family quite well. I always enjoy the weekly get-togethers which give me a nice shot of social contact.

I have sent the final paperwork just over a week ago for my visa so all we can hope for is that it'll be here soon. And even better sooner than the 10 days I have left on my current visa. I'll keep you updated.

Ups and Downs

Australia is not such a bad place to be, to be honest, but having lived somewhere else my entire life there are some things that I notice and bother me. Like the fact that it's just impossible to find a place to rent that allows pets. What is up with the pet banning here? It's just so weird to me as well as not being allowed to change the places you live if you're renting. And by change I mean paint or drill a hole to hang up curtains. It's like they're really emphasizing the fact that it isn't really your home you're just borrowing it. But of all the things regarding properties here there's one thing that bothers me the most. Imagine buying a place in a complex. Within this complex is an organization called Strata that keeps the hallways clean and the lawns green. They have certain rules to how you should behave and one of them is not being allowed to have pets. I guess I can understand it if the owner of a property doesn't allow pets but being the owner of a property and not being able to have a pet? That I do not understand at all. Unless the pet is a nuisance to the other tenants I can see no reason not to allow pets. I mean we might as well ban babies right?

Another thing that irks me is the fact that drivers - and by the way Perth drivers are really abysmal drivers, it's really shocking to see how bad the drivers here are - seem to have no idea of how to handle bicycles. - I really love my bicycle though <3 - Most of them just pretend I'm not there whenever I cycle. It's just such a change coming from a culture where everyone cycles everywhere to going to a place where everything is miles away and everyone needs a car to get anywhere - and public transport sucks.

Well it felt good to get that off my chest! Now for some more positive things :) I've been doing a photography course which has been too basic for me so far but it has helped me spark my interest in photography again and made me want to pursue some more intense photography things. I'll let you know if I have anything to show for it. As well as we will most likely be moving into our new apartment by the end of next month! My boyfriend has been doing well at his job. He's tired at the end of most days but he feels like he's doing a good job. And last but not least, although I broke my nice routine for the past couple of days because I was sick, I've been going to the gym lots and enjoying it. It's something to keep me busy, fill my days and it even makes me feel good! Now hope my visa comes through soon :)

Spending my days playing games as well.

And this was drawn during the photography class which will give
you an idea of how focused I was.

My boyfriends birthday has come and gone and with it the
hilarious moment that he couldn't blow out all his candles!

Can't wait to move in to the new apartment!

Glorification

The other day I had a pie for the first time since coming to Australia. I remember really liking pies and enjoying especially the barbecue sauce, which is very different from the weird barbecue sauce back in the Netherlands.  

Although that's tomato sauce.

It's batter filled with meat and sauce. Perhaps I bought the wrong brand or the wrong kind but it just didn't taste as good as it was in my memory. It got me thinking about all the things I glorified in my mind. I read quite a good article about this concerning culture shock and how when you move somewhere else you glorify your own country and when you move back the opposite happens. I guess having been in Australia before I didn't have the culture shock as much as I could have. But things here are different - shocking right? Clothes and shoes can be very cheap but food and electronics are incredibly expensive. Everything is very far away and it can take up to two hours to drive from one side of the city to the other - luckily I'll be getting a bicycle in a couple of days, too bad you have to wear a helmet here even though it doesn't help at all! Of course the weather is very different here. We've had a few high 30 degrees weeks now and even one week while the air conditioner was broken. I feel a little stuck because I can't do much on my current visa but I hope my actual visa will come through in not too long.

My boyfriend somehow managed to get a job within a week of us arriving here and not only got it within a week he started within a week as well! As long as he gets through his three months trial period it'll be a permanent position, so I very much hope that everything goes well.

In about 2 weeks I will be starting a short photography course for fun and maybe try and make some better photo's. - and perhaps make some friends.

New Beginnings

If you grew up in an upper middle class family in The Netherlands, chances are you grew up going to Austria or some other European skiing area every year. Over the years you've perfected your skills and can easily go down a difficult slope. For me skiing was something I did when I was seven years old and ever since dreamt about going again but not being able to because, let's face it, skiing is a luxurious and expensive sport. So when my dad and my stepmom decided to take me and my boyfriend on a ski trip, before our big move to Australia, I was pleasantly surprised. And even though it had been over a decade ago since the last time we went skiing, I had the (silly) idea that I could naturally just ski without much practice. Of course you see where I'm going with this: I had great difficulty on the first day of our skiing trip. I was over-ambitious and decided to go with my father (who is quite a good skier by the way) to the top of the mountain and ski down off of it. Both my stepmother and I got stuck on slopes that were just too difficult and had to be picked up by a ski-mobile (which was kind of cool though). After a couple more days of falling and sliding my dad and I decided to go to the very top of the mountain and we actually managed to make it down on the last day. It took us about two hours and it was a little too hard for me but I managed and was really happy I did.

Yes, I doodled this on a frozen car window.

Now we've arrived in Australia and the skiing trip feels like it was a month ago even though it has only been about a week since we got back from Austria. We emptied out the house and put everything on the street for garbage pick-up. Packed and re-packed our cases and eventually made it through 20 hours of sitting in an airplane to get here. I'm quite jet-lagged which makes me concerned about my memory because the other day I read that being jet-lagged can cause permanent long term memory loss. But I guess that's ok since I'll just make up for it by drinking two espressos a day.

Now I'm spending quality time with my little friend Hamish who just loves to be scratched on his belly. We finally finished watching Silver Linings Playbook which we've been meaning to watch for a while. Although I felt a little guilty watching it because I promised my dad we'd watch it during our ski trip, which didn't happen. Sorry dad... It was a good movie though it's definitely worth the watch even though it starts out a bit chaotic and unclear.

Since it has been less than two days here I can't comment on a lot more but I'll keep you updated.

xx
Saskia