The last two weeks have probably been the busiest of my life! Reunions, hellos and goodbyes. Job searching, house searching and friend searching. All mixed in with adjusting back to a western culture. Oh and wine. A lot of wine.
It's all been a bit of a blur really, and it doesn't seem like two weeks since I said my goodbyes to my parents again for another year. Now I've got time to reflect, I really have done a lot in a short space time!
Ive moved in to a beautiful little flat with two guys I met in the hostel, with the rent not actually being too scary. I wanted to move out of the hostel ASAP. One week was enough for me and I was craving unpacking and putting my pants in a drawer, not having to share a room with 7 other people and not having to make the risky dart from the bathroom if I forgot to take my towel in for a shower.
I've also managed to get a job working for a hospitality company working at the Melbourne race course. With the potential to earn up to $50 an hour on some shifts, it's definitely helping with the shock of how expensive everything is compared to Vietnam. One shift here could potentially account to three weeks teaching in Saigon. Ridiculous.
I'm definitely still looking for work more related to communications and PR, and now being more settled with somewhere to live and an income for the time being, I'm going to get my search properly on!
Amongst sorting a house and a job, it's been a little strange adjusting back to a western culture (see next post). I'm really missing Asia, but I think that's all to do with change. When I moved to Vietnam, I really missed England. So I guess it's just normal. There are a ton of Vietnamese restaurants here, though I'll probably never go in them. Paying $15 for a bowl of pho rather than 50 cent back in Saigon would make me want to cry.
Moving over to Australia was definitely a lot less stressful for me compared with my move to Saigon. My two best friends were already in Melbourne (Sophie has now gone more north to do her farm work for her second year visa), and I knew a few other people here too. I was also going back to an English speaking country, so if i had any dramas it would be easier to get things sorted.
However moving to Vietnam, I had everything pretty much set up for me. A house, a job, a social group. Coming to Melbourne, I had none of the that - just three nights booked in a hostel and my flight and visa to get over here. But it's been good for me; a challenging new experience. Which is something I wanted. Look out for a checklist type blog post I'll put up for those wanting to set up a new life in Australia too.
So far, Melbourne seems like a pretty cool city, and I'm close to both the city centre and the beach. Everything seems so chilled, and the food is unreal too! Australia is proving to be amazing for gluten-free meals, both in restaurants and supermarkets, making England look very behind the coeliac times. And obviously coming from Asia, where all I ate was pork, egg and rice/ egg, rice and pork, I've definitely died and gone to coeliac heaven! I've had a lot of take away gluten free pizzas, so the next task is to join a gym, so fat Liz doesn't make an unwanted return.
The two week conclusion is that I think I'll be in Melbourne for a good while to come. Though, now I'm having a bit of a struggle to what my blog name should be called. Suggestions are very much welcome...
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