Thankful

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! I have to admit, I was depressed about Thanksgiving this year. Last year it passed by relatively unnoticed (we were WWOOFing at the Barley's, busy and surrounded by friends), but this year I worked a double at my two jobs and in between shifts wandered around in the hot sun by myself feeling sad about missing my family and wishing I could at least hang out with Brian for an hour. But then Thanksgiving was 100% saved, by an amazing Saturday night dinner we all prepared together in our new apartment! Roasted veg, mashed potatoes, brown rice stuffing, pesto & bread, mint sauteed peas, shallot-dijon gravy to drown everything in, and a vegan roast. There was even a homemade pumpkin pie with coconut cream! And it was just the Thanksgiving I hoped for; we spent a few hours in the kitchen together, shared good times with great people, and overstuffed ourselves into food comas. Special thanks to Casey for the wonderful vegan Thanksgiving menu and recipes (the brown rice stuffing and gravy were a huge hit!)

I knew it was a good idea to wait a little while longer before updating… Things are going really well right now. After a bit of a delayed start in our settling-down process in Melbourne, we have found a nice niche here and are getting more comfortable. When we first arrived we were very excited about the public transportation system here, with its extensive network of trains, trams and buses for easy commutes. After time we've realized that although there are lots of options, sometimes it can be costly and timely to get around, and it's obvious that biking is a superior way to get around. So, first on the list of "things to buy once we have money" was bikes. 

During our squatting period, we happened to stop into a cafe/bar for a coffee while waiting for clothes to dry at the laundromat, and the girl working there started chatting us up. She was so friendly and we talked about travel, our thoughts on the city, and how we were looking for bikes, and she told us she had some we could use. Just out of the blue, such kindness from a complete stranger… she (Louise) had a women's bike that she rarely used which she said I could have the combination to and borrow any time I liked ("I'll just assume you have it if it's not locked up at my house," she said!!). Even luckier for Brian, her flatmate had a men's bike that he never used and "needed some work," that she said Brian could use the entire time he's living in Melbourne! We stayed and talked to her for awhile longer, and she invited us to come back and see live music at the bar the next night, and we left feeling really positive about humanity. When we went to pick up the bike, it was in really good condition and just needed new tubes… that was it. Brian went to the bike shop, replaced the tubes, pumped up the tires, and he was good to go, a perfect tall-guy bike, just what Brian needs (and for free, to boot!). I got a bike the other day as well; it's old and rusty ("Trusty Rusty") and needs a lot of TLC, but it's easy to ride and gets me from A to B much faster than my usual tram-bus commute. Feels so good! Melbourne is a really bike-friendly city, with tons of bike lanes and parks with bike paths to ride through. Brian accompanied me on my first commute to my job at the pub, which was slightly terrifying in rush-hour traffic, but we were able to map a route that is almost entirely off the street and through parks.

Our living situation has a lot to do with our newfound happiness. After a few weeks of living in a huge empty house without a scrap of furniture, a fridge, or anything at all minus our clothes and air mattress, being moved in and unpacked (well, sort of, although we don't have a real bed or dresser yet) feels amazing. After we found out we couldn't stay in our other house, we were given about a month to vacate, but our other 2 flatmates moved out 2 weeks before we did, and they owned everything in the house. We tried to have a "camping adventure" in the house to keep our spirits up, but it didn't really work. It was prettttyyyyyyy depressing. But now, our squatting days are behind us and we've moved into a sunny, cozy apartment right on the edge of Princes Park in Brunswick. It is a dream! Although we were sad to leave our other house, I think we were really just into it for the amazing back yard/patio and the fact that everything was nice and new in the house. When it comes down to it, this apartment is much more our style, and this part of Brunswick is even better than the part we were in before (although we're missing living 2 blocks away from the grocery outlet). Our new flatmate (Abbey) is the same age as us, is awesome, vegan and shares my interests in nutrition, organics, etc, and loves to cook. She's really friendly, easy-going, and made us feel right at home. Her long-distance boyfriend (who was just here visiting) is from Vancouver, BC, and we've had an awesome time with the two of them in our sweet new place. We've lucked out again, roommate-wise… our flatmates in NZ and Australia have all been pretty much too good to be true. I think we're long overdue for a flatmate from hell at this point. :) 

Work-wise, things have improved greatly, with the most important factor being a job for Brian! He's working 9-5 on the weekends at a cafe in South Yarra (which is the ritzier part of the city) called Two Birds One Stone. Although it's only 2 days a week, he's getting paid well and with 16 hours a week he's doing pretty well for himself. The best part is, he was hired there because he applied for a job at a new restaurant the same company is opening in January, and after a successful interview for that restaurant, they offered him this weekend job in the meantime. So, he's got his foot in the door and if all goes according to plan he'll have a full-time job when the new restaurant opens in January. I think Brian's been dealt some really unlucky cards in Melbs but they've been followed by some super lucky ones!

On my end, day shifts at Residential Kitchen are going pretty well, and I got a second job at the Retreat Hotel (a pub) in Abbotsford where I work 2-3 nights a week. It's an alright job, the owners (a couple) take really good care of us (even though the pay is laughably low) and are good people. The pub is kind of suffering; it's old and run in a stale way, doesn't attract the right young, hip crowd and is therefor not doing well financially. The owners are obviously really burnt out on all the long hours they've put in over the past 20 years, and it's kind of sad to see. However, the job itself is pretty cruisy, since there isn't much going on there and we are always really overstaffed. I really like all my co-workers so I feel lucky in that way. And now that I have my bike, going to and from work is much more exciting and takes less time (although I'm still feeling pretty insecure about my biking abilities and very nervous about traffic).

It's starting to get HOT. When I was younger I loved hot weather, but as I get older I get less and less fond of hot days, and days above 80 are usually pretty unpleasant for me (unless I spend the whole day pool/beach/lakeside with the ample swimming breaks). Well, it's not even summer yet, and it's already hitting the high 30s. Last week it was 38 degrees (100 F).... which pretty much rendered me useless. Our apartment gets a nice breeze, but we're on the 3rd floor so it can get pretty toasty in here. Everytime I tell a Melbournian that the heat is beginning to kill me, they laugh and say "Wait till it hits 40! This is nothing!" and then I get worried that I'll never survive the summer. I need to start spending all my free time at the beach, swimming in the sea and trying not to get eaten by sharks.

Future plans are very up in the air. Because it took us a lot longer to get settled here than we imagined, almost 2 months has already passed and we feel like we've just kind of "started" our time here. Coming home next summer is still in my plans, but the dates are a lot more up in the air… we have a great apartment and feel like we have a lot to experience in this city and I don't want to limit my time here so much. When people ask us how long we plan to stay or what we're going to do after we leave here, we don't have an answer… but that feels ok. If there's one thing I've learned in the past 14 months it's that the future is incredibly unpredictable, and sometimes you just have to wait it out, expectation-free, and see what happens. That's what we're doing now, and the next year or two will happen how it happens.  

Still, it must be said, as we're away from home during the holidays, we're missing everyone and feeling a bit homesick. Once again it feels nothing like Christmas over here; time is passing by without my knowledge of the current date or month (still!), and Christmas decorations and music feel wildly out of place and tacky. It kind of makes me wonder if expats from cold-weather climates ever get used to Christmas in the southern hemisphere. Our plans are still undecided; we've been invited to Adelaide for Christmas with our friends Caitlin and Sean and Caitlin's family, which we are looking into flights for. We may try to celebrate during the day with a feast and then perhaps a little get-away (as Residential Kitchen and most other restaurants/bars are closed between Xmas and New Years). We are really looking forward to visitors in the new year; Brian's parents in Feb, Angela in Feb, and (fingers crossed!!) Ryan in March. Any other takers? We have an air mattress (that we will hopefully not still be sleeping on by the time we have visitors)! :)

If anyone wishes to send us letters or love notes, we would accept them with open arms and return them with something equally special!! Our address is:

Unit 11, 837 Park St

Brunswick, Victoria 3056

Australia

We are also researching internet options and hope to be on the interwebs soon for plenty of Skype dates/chats/more regular email/blog updates. 

Missing you all, big hugs and kisses from Oz!

one of our neighborhood happy hour spots

flinders train station

laneway culture

walking around near the CBD

Melbourne Museum

me with Gumby in Fitzroy

near the velodrome by our old house

catching up with Sarah, an old high school friend! So much fun :)

from the park near the Brunswick velodrome

the front of our old house feat. Brian's bike

Merri Creek Trail

:)

Sarah, me, and some crazy girls we met on a night out

Squatters

cuddling with Clarence

Huge cemetery near Princes Park

photo credit Brian Quist

Charlie in the window

our kitchen <3 p="p">

Charlie and the herb garden

entryway to our apt.

Trusty Rusty and Brian's bike behind

living room

love this place

picking herbs with Charlie for T-day dinner :)

Abbey, Spencer and Bri cooking Thanksgiving dins

cooking up a storm

lousy pic, but this is the final product 

yummmm

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Our transitory life

Hello everyone! I really wanted to wait to blog about Melbourne until we were really settled down in a home, sipping on a cold glass of sav blanc in our massive backyard garden, eating a variety of fancy take-aways from one of the hundreds of delicious restaurants around town (variety provided by our ample incomes at our new, much-loved jobs)... oh wait that's the dream version of my life...

Ok, things ain't so bad. It was a little touch and go there for awhile. I did hold off on updating ya'll because I was feeling pretty down and out about the way things were panning out here, but I think we just much be starting to get the hang of this Melbourne thing. (Hopefully I didn't just jinx it, I have a way of doing that).

I know I probably confused a lot of people on facebook with my cryptic updates about being homeless, so let me just clarify everything now. I'll start at the beginning...

We arrived in Melbourne on October 3rd, and shuttled and trained ourselves to our first temporary home (airbnb WIN) in Clifton Hill. We stayed with Jess and Sean, a fun French-Canadian & Australian couple, who, true to airbnb form, did an excellent job of orienting us to our new city and making us feel all kinds of comfortable. The neighborhood was quiet and leafy green, our "front yard" a park. The Merri Creek Trail was just a short run away, making for a nice morning routine, and we spent a few days tramming/walking towards Smith street and the surrounding Fitzroy area, which has a Capitol Hill-esque feel to it. To say I was overwhelmed by the amount of amazing, quirky, delicious, and cozy restaurants/cafes/bars in town would be an understatement... arriving here with no spending money has been quite a challenge.

The first few days were occupied by wandering wide-eyed around the city, taking care of business, and editing resumes at least 20 times. The first setback was the good ol' temp agency, Hays, completely failing to help me in any way. It took me a week and 10 email/voicemails to even get ahold of anyone there, and when I was finally called in to get registered, I was told "it's kind of slow right now and there isn't much available." In in a city of 4 million people, there are no reception jobs available, riiiiiiiight. Well screw you, Hays. I sorely regret banking on the idea of them coming through for me like they did in Wellington. In the meantime, I hadn't pursued any hospitality jobs, because I liked the idea of being in a 9 to 5 job with weekends free to explore... so I needed to reset my thinking. Brian had been dropping his resume off at cafes around town and already had three trials set up!!

His first trial was at a cafe called Siyia, where he was making coffees (on trial) for about a week before being let go. We look back now and laugh at being in Wellington and everyone talking about the "Wellington standard" for coffee... People were so snobby there about their coffees, but the Melbourne standard is even more ridiculous. Barista-ing (is that a word?) is truly an art here. Brian's experience is all from quick, on-the-job "training," where he wasn't so much taught how to do things as corrected for his mistakes, so how is he supposed to know? Well, at least he got a few shifts and a handful of cash for his time there (and he didn't really like it there, anyway). His second trial (and current job) was at a restaurant called Paragon, in the lovely Rathdowne Village in Carlton North (dreamy neighborhood). He's been working there for about 2 weeks, waiting tables, pouring drinks, and getting reamed out by his meanest boss to date (anyone surprised about this? We have a great track record with amazing bosses). The pay is good and he's been able to get some decent hours in so that's great, and he's a much stronger person than me to put up with such a drill sergeant (this guy is seriously, seriously mean, and not in a non-confrontational way like Richard MacFarlane). Here's hoping Brian can keep getting hours and staying out of his boss' way as much as possible!

I had some drama with the job situation. After dropping off my resume all over town, I got a trial for last Thursday at Residential Kitchen, a cafe in Carlton North (just a few blocks away from Paragon), and a trial for Friday at the Curious Goose cafe/restaurant on Sydney Road in Brunswick. I was really pleased with my success, but the next few days were a rollercoaster of emotions. My trial at RK went really well, and I was offered the job. I really liked it there and the owner seemed very level-headed and organized, but the pay seemed really low. I told him I had a trial the next day and wanted to see how that went before I made my decision, which he said was fine. The next morning as I got ready for my day at the Curious Goose, the owner texted me and asked if we could move my trial to the following day (this should have been the first sign...). I went into RK and told the owner my trial had been moved and could I please have another day to decide, and he seemed ok with it. Saturday morning I went to my CG trial, which was very short and seemed great, the owner told me right away he liked me and wanted me to work there, but then got very vague about what hours were available, and said "get together a proposal" for me and call me the next morning with it. He also emphasized, for the 3rd time, how upfront he likes to be with people and not make them wait/jerk them around/waste their time. This put me in a really awkward position, having to ask the owner at RK to wait for me yet another day to make my decision... (the fact that CG kept putting me off should have been my second sign to run far, far away). Using all my guts, I ventured into RK and explained the situation, apologized profusely, and was received coldly by the owner (understandably so). I was basically told they couldn't wait for me forever and they were trialling someone else so we'd have to see what happened. I went home, sick to my stomach about how I'd made (and was continuing to make) the wrong decision. The next day, hours and hours passed with no word from CG, no response to my pleading text, and me spending the day feeling awful and worried that I'd now lost both potential jobs. I finally called CG again at 6pm, and was told the shifts which were previously open to me had been given to someone who trialled previously (the day I was meant to have my trial but was pushed back, I presume), and that there was, MAYBE one shift available on Sundays, if I wanted it, but no real promises there, unfortunately, bla bla bla/ I hung up the phone knowing there was nothing for me there and the owner was making me wait/jerking me around/wasting my time. I called RK and left a voicemail basically begging for the chance to get a job there, and waited in agony until the next morning (yesterday) when I found out my job offer was still on the table. SO I HAVE A JOB! I start at Residential Kitchen on Friday, I'll let you know how it goes :)

Meanwhile... house drama was also in full effect. While we were staying with Jess and Sean, we looked at 3 houses that we really liked. It was the second house we saw (where we are currently residing) that we decided to go for. It's a massive, beautiful, newly renovated house in Brunswick, with the dreamiest backyard/patio and those window-doors that slide all the way open (like at a restaurant!) to leave your living area completely open to the outside... we fell in love with it right away but the lease term was a year. The current flatmates, Alex and Tim, said that the landlord is really great and would probably change it to a 6-month lease if we could move in right away and start paying rent. We had to kind of be in limbo for awhile as we waited for new information, and in the meantime we saw another house in Carlton North (ideal location for us) that we liked, but not as much. Incentives included lower rent and NO BOND (this is huge).... but we wanted to see what would happen with the other house because we loved it so much, so we said we'd think about it. Over the next week these things happened: the property management company wanted us to fill out an application before they approached the landlord about changing the lease terms, we filled one out (and looked horrible on paper), the managers said they couldn't change the lease terms but we could maybe sign the year lease then find someone to take over, and in the meantime Alex and Tim invited us to move into the house while we waited for the logistics to sort out so we could save money on our airbnb accommodation. This seemed like a good sign; after moving in it felt like everything was going to work out but we were just waiting. Then the prop managers wanted rental history letters of reference, which I had to frantically reach out for (thanks Jemma and Johnny!), then we found out Tim hadn't filled out his app yet, and when he did he didn't put any references, and the managers told Alex things weren't looking good for us because "overseas rental references aren't as good as Australian ones" (because the US is a little podunk country from where references obviously can't be taken seriously). Anyway, the next day we were denied, and all of us were given 28 days to vacate. Oh and of course in the meantime (it has been 2 weeks, after all), the other house became no longer available. So, yes, we have been living in our dream house, even if we don't technically "live" here... but now we've got to go. Luckily with the 28 day window we should have plenty of time to find somewhere else to live. We are already so attached to this house and neighborhood, it's going to be so sad to live, but at least we got a little time in a dream home. :)

It has truly been a rollercoaster. There are times when I am elated and feel like I could live in this city forever; the thriving arts and music scene here, vibrant neighborhoods and amazing food... and there are times I just want to curl up on my (Tim's inflatable water floaty) bed and not leave the house for days. Transitions continue to be hard, after all this time... looking for a job, being vulnerable and broke in a new place, trying to find a home, trying to make new friends; these are things you shouldn't have to do so often. But I keep reminding myself that this feeling of helplessness is only temporary; transitions only last a little while and then it's just life. I have to give a big shoutout to Brian for being so amazing the last few weeks. He is so much better at dealing with the complicated emotions we're going through right now and I don't know what I'd do without him. His many pep talks, attempts at distraction, and being able to always make me laugh have seen me through some dark days lately. We just celebrated 3 years together; time flies when you're having fun! Love you, Bri :)

Ok, that's the end of the heavy stuff, my apologies for an emotionally-draining blog post, but I just know the next one will be full of all the wonderful things we'll be doing once business is all taken care of! This city really is wonderful and has a lot to offer; I can't wait to take full advantage of it and enjoy the coming of summer!

Until next time!

Leaving home again

We're in Melbourne! So far, so good; there are obviously a lot of logistical things to deal with that are a little stressful at the moment, but we're slowly but surely crossing items off our to-do list. I'll write a post all about this amazing city soon, but first I want to tie up the end of our year in New Zealand.

A few weeks before we left Brian and I managed to both get a weekend off of work (first time that had ever happened since we'd been employed), so we decided to get out of town. We rented a bach (pronounced like the first part of "bachelor;"which is what New Zealanders call a holiday home) in Opunake, which is about a 4.5 hour drive from Wellington on the west coast. Mark, Caitlin, and Sean joined us and we had a fun little roadtrip for the weekend! The bach was really nice and had a front and back patio, yard, fireplace, and nice big kitchen. We planned to do some day hikes around Mt. Taranaki, but honestly, when we got there I think we all just wanted to relax, so the hiking never really happened... the sun came out and it felt HOT and amazing (we were all feeling a little starved for warmth & sun), so ambition turned into lazing about in the sun with mimosas, snacks, and card games. On Saturday night Caitlin and I cooked up a big Mexican-style dinner (the San Diegans are forever missing their beloved Mexican food) and it was such a delicious feast after the sun had zapped away all our energy. On Sunday we wanted to take our sweet time getting back to Welly, so we headed over to check out New Plymouth. Along the way we stopped at a gorgeous beach and relaxed in the warm black sand (one of the finest pleasures in life; warm sand between your toes). In New Plymouth we walked around an artisans market, got some lunch, and walked along part of the coastal walkway. New Plymouth is so cute! It had such a relaxed skate/surf culture (amazing surfing there, I'm told) and lots of character. We made it back to Wellington late that evening, really pleased with how lucky we were weather-wise. All in all, a great trip; it was too bad we didn't get to do things like that more often while we were living in Wellington. It's so easy to get caught up in the drudgery of the work week and routines; sometimes you just have to take a weekend away!

The rest of our last few weeks in Wellington were spent enjoying time with friends, saying goodbyes, and being stressed out about various things. Advertising for and hoping to fill our rooms in our beloved, mold-filled house was kind of nerve-racking, but ended up very well after all was said and done. There was lots of deep cleaning, scrubbing, and toxic chemical-use in our house for awhile there... but it came out looking pretty shiny and new in the end. It's almost as if the mold was never there... ;) Mark found an amazing house to move into and was able to fill his room quickly (kind of shocking considering the size; we really lucked out in that regard!), a couple moved into our room, and Jemma decided to stay for awhile. The only downside to the whole situation was that Brian and I had to pay an extra week's rent because the couple taking our room couldn't move in until after we left, but that was a small price to pay to get rid of the stress of filling the room.

nice 'n' moldy

cute little kitchen

Then there's the car issue. OHHHHHH THE CAR.... Guess what? We couldn't sell it! Anyone surprised?! This was a stressful situation that is continuing to be stressful for us and also for our wonderful friends in Wellington who are still trying to tie up that loose end for us. After an ongoing classified ad as well as 2 consecutive auctions on TradeMe, we had no luck getting rid of that cursed thing. We dropped the price to a laughable amount and still no one seems to want it. The worst part is that our friends are stuck in Wellington with a car to sell that now has an expired warrant of fitness and registration, which you will all probably remember is not just pocket change to take care of. Sigh. I go through waves of guilt and horror about that car and how awful we feel living it in the care of our friends... if any of you are reading this I am so sorry! Feel free to push the car right off a bridge or drive it into the bush and blow it up. I wish now that we had abandoned it, but I think we would have had to take off the license plates. Not to mention I am still not convinced the car is worth as little as everyone else seems to think it is, but anyway. Let's just say I won't be investing in a car anytime soon.

I hate you.

But! Those stressful things were definitely overshadowed by lots of fun and good times before we left. It's kind of crazy to look back on the last year and think of all we did and all the people we met... It was a very exciting and action-packed year. We made such wonderful friends and found "homes" all over the country. Saying goodbye to our friends in Wellington was especially hard; our time there was the longest stretch of time we spent in one location all year. It was so nice to feel comfortable and know the ins and outs of a city! It's comforting to know our life in Wellington is only a 3ish hour plane ride away. And I hope our Welly friends will come visit us in Australia!

As for life after New Zealand, well, we'll have to see what happens. There's no plan. We're bouncing back and forth between societal (and self-inflicted) pressures to move home, get serious jobs/go back to school/become responsible adults and just wanting to keep the quasi-nomadic lifestyle up for years and years. You only get one life, so you better live it, right? But then again, there are pros to settling down too. Honestly, I'm trying not to think about it right now. It's time for Melbourne now, that's all I know. After awhile, Melbourne time will be up and something else will happen... we'll just have to wait and see!

Anyway, thanks, New Zealand, for one of the greatest, most memorable years of my life. And now that we're in Oz you all have another chance to start a collection jar on your dresser to buy a plane ticket to visit us! You're welcome anytime. :)

walking on Cuba St

last day in Welly :(

after our going-away dinner

fav graffiti artist

hehehehhehehehehehhehehehe, had to

yen wor kind of night

exploring Wellington's coast

ciders in the sun with Jem

bye! sniff sniff

Recovery Room

Brian with Shelly

Stay tuned for a Melbourne update! (sneak preview below)