This move has been a loooooong time comin' for The Pickle and me! We decided to move to Sydney in the spring of 2014. We started making plans and told our families and close friends (who were simultaneously sad and excited for us), notified our employer, and made it Facebook official in July. There was unending paperwork, health checks, verification of our relationship status, and the selling and packing of household goods, but in the end, we were finally able to gain Australian Resident status! |
We spent the following months preparing for our move and getting in as much quality time with family as possible, making final visits and eventually saying our (temporary) goodbyes. While a move this big has a definite once-in-a-lifetime awesomeness to it, there is also an undeniably sad aspect in leaving friends and family. The Pickle had to start work before I did, and I had to stay to finish my work through December, so he bravely headed out in October to forge a path for us in our new city. |
He had a LOT to do, between finding his way around, setting up a bank account, obtaining a mobile, signing up for the public healthcare system, processing in to his new job, and purchasing a car, all in a foreign context...I'm so proud of him! He even had time to do some sight-seeing: here's Pickle at the Sydney Opera House, Pickle at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Pickle at the Harbour Bridge...you get the picture.
While I missed The Pickle greatly, we were able to Skype frequently, and my remaining weeks flew by quickly with my job, selling the remainder of our things, preparations for moving our household goods, and the holidays. It was a very bittersweet Christmas this year, without Pickle and with the impending goodbyes looming close. I left two days after Christmas on December 28 - it was a tear-filled day, but I knew we'd all establish a "new normal" soon enough, and I was looking forward to being reunited with my Pickle!
Note: I also brought a package for The Pickle, but it didn't arrive until 2 days later, with my luggage...it consisted of heaps of American candy, including a gigantic 16oz (or 453.6 gram...since we're metric now) Snickers bar, and molding wax for his hair (The Pickle is both a candyholic and a liiiiiittle obsessive about his cheap, generic American hair product).
So far, it's been a great first day down unda...now to sleep off this jet lag and get ready for NYE, Sydney style!
Cheers!
Cheers!