DVD regret.

When Ben and I started packing and sorting our stuff in August, we did a silly thing. We packed all our movies into a big box, and put it into storage at his family cabin in the woods. We figured, when we are newlyweds in Australia we will have no time to watch movies at home! We will be too busy dodging man-eating sharks and defending our high-rise apartment from kangaroos and watching the water in the toilets swirl in the opposite direction.* And also that weird region locking thing that makes American DVDs unplayable in other countries' DVD players. Anyway, we didn't think about the fact that our laptops would still be able to play our DVDs.

So, now we have no movies to watch. And no Netflix. Just whatever's on the telly, and whatever we can eventually get from the library. It's only a bummer because it's the holiday season, and there are certain movies we own that we like to watch for each holiday. 

Here are Ben's:

Independence Day - Independence Day

Thanksgiving - The Last Samurai

Christmas - Love Actually, LOTR Trilogy, The Family Man, the Harry Potter series

Here are mine:

Halloween - Donnie Darko, Spider-Man 2

Thanksgiving - RENT, Spider-Man 2

Christmas - The Family Stone, Spider-Man 2

New Year's - The Joy Luck Club, Spider-Man 2

I feel like you all know way too much about us now.

CK

*I don't really know where this idea came from, but I'm pretty sure it's complete rubbish.

thanksgiving down under.

As I've mentioned in an earlier post, I'm not the biggest fan of Thanksgiving. The history, the timing of the holiday, the turkey. Ben has fond childhood memories of Thanksgiving at his grandfather's cabin, but the holiday weekend was never a huge deal for me growing up. And for some reason it's been a source of great stress in my adult years. Anyway, none of that really applies anymore.

Because guess what they don't celebrate in Australia? 

Thanksgiving! 

Pretty convenient for me. I thought about not acknowledging the holiday altogether, but I felt bad for Ben, and attempted to make a nice meal for us when he got home from work - it was our First Thanksgiving as a Married Couple, after all. I made asparagus, crunchy rice (not on purpose. shhhh) and I actually found pumpkin soup at the grocery. They don't make pumpkin pie here, and we currently have no access to an oven, so I found some vanilla custard thing that got the job done. Keep in mind, we're still living in a tiny hotel room - this was the best I could do! I set the table and propped up a framed picture of our families.

It was kind of lonely, but it was nice. Because we had each other, and that is all we need right now. Ben and I talked about what we were thankful for: mostly, that we made it to Melbourne and that we're getting this much closer to settling down. It's been a tough year for both of us, as we've been through quite a few changes and transitions. Here are some of the big ones:

1. Packing up, moving around, living out of suitcases for months.

2. Occupational transfers.

3. Family additions (marriage-wise).

4. Marriage.

5. Moving to the other end of the planet.

     5.a. First time moving away from family, for Ben.

I think about where we were a year ago, and it kind of blows my mind. It's like that one song from RENT, where they ask "how do you measure, measure a year?" 

In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles

In laughter, in strife.

We're thankful for the opportunity to live in Melbourne - that it actually, finally happened, and it's been a pleasant experience so far. We're thankful for our friends and families, and for the ability to swiftly communicate with them via technology. We're thankful to be together, that we made it through this past year, and that somehow everything has helped us become a stronger couple in the end. 

So, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back in the States! 

Also, sorry if I got that song stuck in your head.

CK

g'day, partner! & other adjustments

Before Ben and I got married, I had this fun idea that we should call each other "partners" instead of "husband" and "wife." I'm not a huge fan of those words for a few reasons, and besides - I like being random and throwing people off their game. Ben wasn't a fan of this idea, and so I've been dutifully calling him my husband. Until now.

Because guess what Australians call their spouses?

Partners!!

I win.

Here are some other culture adjustments we've been making in Melbourne so far:

- They don't do take-out boxes here. Apparently they used to, but stopped doing it out of fear of being sued over leftover food poisoning. Which is strange, because Americans are often portrayed as the most lawsuit-happy people. Fortunately the portions here are a bit smaller than the US standard, but still. It's tempting to sneak in our own Tupperware from now on.

- Things can close really early. Many coffee shops, restaurants, stores... by 4pm they're turning off their fluorescent signs. Kind of a bummer. But on the bright side, if I get a temp job in one of those places, I probably won't ever have to work past midnight again! *ahemspaceneedle*

- The downtown area is referred to as the CBD - Central Business District. If you say "downtown," you will be looked at quizzically. Or laughed at.

- They have Starbucks here, but many of the stores have gone out of business. The coffee at local cafes is exquisite, and Melbournians take great pride in their knowledge of and taste in *actual* good coffee - not the syrupy caloric mountains we're addicted to in the States.

- Cell phone plans are much more reasonable. In the US, you buy a phone, then make an expensive monthly payment for the plan, plus data on top of that. In Australia, a decent monthly payment is around $50, with most of it going towards the minutes/texts/data, but a portion of it is actually a payment plan for the phone itself. At the end of your contract, you have an unlocked phone that you can pretty much take anywhere. I'll be able to get a contract once we have an actual address.

- People are very friendly here. Not in a fake "hi! let me pretend to help you for three minutes and then hope I never see you again!" but a genuine "let me answer all your questions and give you my full attention, also here's my card and please call me if you have ANY questions in the next month." Seriously. I'm sure there are exceptions, but in this past week of house-hunting and setting up logistical things, I've felt very well taken care of. Also, people tend to be honest and direct - not in a snarky and passive-aggressive way, but in a helpful manner. Which I appreciate, because if I'm doing something wrong, I'd rather know about it upfront to prevent making the same mistakes again.

- Everything gets abbreviated. For example, if someone says "would you like to grab some brekky before heading to the uni?" it does NOT mean having an epic breakdancing session before mounting a giant unicorn. It refers to having breakfast before heading to the university. Super confusing, I know. Also, "arvo" is short for "afternoon." Which makes me wonder how Australians actually pronounce "afternoon."

- Not everything gets abbreviated. Apparently it's not proper to call your partner a "party." 

CK

our first Australian weekend.

Well, we've survived a week in Melbourne! No shark attacks, deadly crocodile encounters or kangaroo burglaries - although we really should knock on wood about that last one. We spent our first Australian weekend exploring a bit of the downtown area, mostly searching for housing. Hotel living is a blast, but Ben and I have been living out of suitcases since the end of August. We're ready to unpack.

On Saturday, we scoured our favourite real estate website, which was full of scheduled viewings for nice one and two-bedroom apartments. Ben made a list of addresses and times, and we took the tram into the city for our first "house hunters international" experience - minus the cheesy interviews and staged discussions.

The morning viewings were unsuccessful, as the first few real estate agents never showed up, but we had more luck in the afternoon. We didn't find anything to apply for, but it gave us a good idea of what our budget can get us. We've decided to focus on looking for a high-rise apartment in the beautiful Docklands area, preferably with two bedrooms and a decent amount of living space. Ben really wants an HD TV so he can use his WiiU, and I want a really nice view and a decent kitchen counter for all my cooking adventures. Our new home should also be close to a hospital, in case one of those cooking adventures goes awry...

In the chaos of moving we hadn't had a chance to see "Thor 2" yet, so on Saturday night we went to one of the nearby movie theaters, Hoyt's. Tickets for a regular 2D movie were $19.50 each, and our concessions added up to about $16 (the Thor Hammer collectible cup was only 80 cents more, by the way). Needless to say, we will not be attending the movies very often. Interesting fact: down under, they assign seats in the movie theater, even when it's almost empty. They ask you for your preference, but still - it's not a Broadway show. Or an airplane.

On Sunday, we met up with a woman named Anne, who is a good friend of Ben's former auto insurance agent. A former Whidbey Islander, Anne has been living overseas since she was a teenager, and now has lived in Australia longer than she has anywhere else. She absolutely loves living in Melbourne and was very helpful in the weeks leading up to our big move, answering any questions we had, e-mailing us with advice on tons of random stuff. 

Anne's love and enthusiasm for Melbourne was very apparent as she took us on a fantastic driving tour of the city. She drove us through every neighborhood and landmark, pointing out her favourite places to eat and hang out, streets where she had previously lived, and parts of the city that were once wastelands, but had recently been transformed into hubs of culture and fun. We had brunch at one of her favorite spots near Kew, where the food was delicious and the service extremely friendly (our server told us that we had "such beautiful accents" -HAHA really??- and told us all about the Melbourne night markets, which we definitely want to check out soon). We stopped at St. Kilda's for drinks, which is pretty much Melbourne's beach town. Wandering around the crowded sidewalks reminded me a tiny bit of my days in South Florida, but with a much more exotic vibe. We visited Anne's house for a bit, attended a quick showing of another apartment, then had an early dinner at another delicious restaurant near the Hawthorn neighborhood. 

It was such a fantastic experience to be taken around by a friendly and informative local, especially one who knows the culture we come from, helping us adjust to differences both obvious and subtle. As Anne dropped us back at our hotel, she wished us the best in finding a place, offering to take us on a Costco run or help us move our stuff once the air shipment arrives. She even suggested that she and I hang out for a girls' night during the upcoming few weeks when Ben is working out of town. We've just met, and she's already genuinely looking out for our well being.

That's pretty awesome.

CK

my first Australian run & other stories

It took a bit of trial and error, but I successfully took the tram to the Tan Track for my first Australian run yesterday! It was a terrible workout, mostly because everything around the track is so gorgeous that I had to keep stopping to admire everything (it's right by the Royal Botanic Gardens - even though I'm not a huge garden-lover, these plants are pretty spectacular)... and also because I am kind of out of shape. But nevertheless, it's a great spot that I'm looking forward to showing Ben in the near future.

The transit here is generally easy to navigate, especially compared to Seattle transit. The v-line trams run every ten minutes, and the stops are clearly marked and numbered in order, taking the guesswork out of how far away your destination is. There are also busses that use the same fare card, but we've been told by locals that the bus is unreliable and not worth taking. Locals have also expressed some discontent with their current fare card, the Myki. It's been around since 2009, replacing the previous Metcard, and has taken quite some time to roll out and adjust to. There are reports of overcharging, issues with phone and internet "topping up" (adding money to the card), faulty machines, and overall inconvenience. Hopefully we won't have any issues with our cards - but if we do, we won't be alone!

Between transfers, I was able to catch a tiny glimpse of downtown Melbourne. Lots of shops, people wandering about, street musicians, smells of great food, and gorgeous buildings everywhere. There are tiny alleyways crammed with more restaurants and stores and people hanging out, which reminds me of places in Europe. Also, there are Asians everywhere, both local and from nearby countries. Seattle is pretty diverse, but I still got harassed pretty often with racial slurs and offensive eye gestures, whenever I walked around downtown. Somehow I don't think this will be as much of an issue here in Melbourne (even though there are weirdos in every part of the world), and it's nice that I'll sort of be able to fit in. Until I start talking, of course.

Ben and I have begun the search for apartments online, checking out areas recommended by his new coworkers. Because we're not really planning on settling down just yet, we're looking at fully furnished apartments, which are actually pretty common here. Of course, this might mean settling for some floral grandma-ish furniture, but it would take the hassle out of finding everything at a decent price, and later getting rid of it if/when we decide to move elsewhere. Everything in Melbourne is very expensive. Work salaries are also higher to even things out, but we've had to adjust our expectations for living expenses. We crunched some numbers and bookmarked apartment listings ranging from a comparably moderate $450-$600... per week. The Australian dollar isn't that far off from the US dollar - and I thought paying $700/mo. in Seattle was a lot! Anyway, we've contacted a few real estate agents about apartments, and hope to venture over to the city this weekend to check out the areas in person and see what $500/wk actually gets us.

Also, I had my first Australian latte at Percy's Aeroplane Cafe. It was amazing. And this is coming from a girl who lived in Seattle for four years. I'm very glad that there's at least one good cafe in town (and I'm sure it's not the only one). Plus, coffee just so happens to be one of the few things that is cheaper in Australia!

But it probably won't offset the rent.

CK

g'day!

We made it to Melbourne! It's kind of unbelievable that we're actually here, after a whole season of planning and anticipation. It's also kind of weird that we went from cold Seattle rain, to mild Spring weather, heading into the warm summer season - just in time for Christmas.

The long plane ride felt a lot shorter than fourteen hours, at least to me. Back in the 90's, traveling to Asia as a child meant fourteen hours of coloring books and practicing the piano on paper keyboards. Nowadays, international flights feature individual television screens, games, full music albums and other forms of entertainment. Those hours fly by much faster when you're alternating between Pacific Rim and Taylor Swift.

We flew from Seattle to L.A., had a nice long layover, then left L.A. on the evening of November 17. We touched down in Melbourne on the morning of November 19, missing the 18th entirely. Unfortunately, the 18th just so happens to be my birthday, and although it sounded quite funny to "skip" the occasion (does this mean I get to be 27 for another year?), it ended up being a little disorienting to not get a special day of spoilage and reflection. It didn't really matter, as I got plenty of early bday celebrations with family, and received nice facebook greetings from friends back in the States. And also, we're in Australia, which is a pretty awesome place to be on your not-birthday.

Anyway, we took a taxi to the hotel that Ben's company had set up for us, which is located in the suburb of Kew. According to The Internet, Kew is an affluent neighborhood with many private schools and a great place to raise a family. None of that applies to us, but so far we've found it to be convenient. We were able to walk to a branch of our Australian bank (we had set up an account online in the States and wired ourselves some money, but still needed to visit a bank in person to complete the process), get a Myki transit card, and attempt to shop for the week's groceries. Leo's did not have the following Ben&Candice staples: half and half, Tillamook cheddar cheese, a variety of white pasta sauce (we had two options, and the one we picked tasted like month-old leftovers), and reasonably-priced ice-cream. But we bought some things, made pasta for dinner, and successfully watched an episode of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." on an Australian tv site. My ABC and CBS iPad apps no longer play episodes down under, which is a bummer, but it seems like we can still catch up on most of our current shows here... one way or another. 

The day after our arrival, Ben headed out for his first day at his new job. According to him, everyone has been super friendly and welcoming from the start - giving him tips on the housing search, public transit, and even suggestions on where/how to watch Seahawks games. I'm glad that one of us is already a part of a community of some sort, and we'll gladly accept all the help we can get in settling down.

While Ben was working hard at winning the bread, I was moping around in the hotel room, looking up logistical things on my laptop and trying not to be sad. I always forget just how lonely and overwhelming moving can be, even though I'm not completely alone this time. I've been thinking a lot about my first few days in Seattle, trying to muster up the courage to explore the city and not shrink into despair. Four years later I'd like to say that I'm very familiar with that city (and miss it dearly), so I know that in no time, Melbourne will be a place I can navigate with ease. But for now, I've been doing little things, like practicing walking on the left hand of the sidewalk (it's weird, really weird) and riding the tram with my new Myki pass. I found a nice nearby park to sit and journal, and spent some time wondering if people can automatically tell that I'm an American. 

Tomorrow's agenda: exploring further. I need to start looking for apartments in the city, we need more/better groceries, and apparently there's a place called the Tan Track, a loop of about 3.8 km. I'm extremely rusty when it comes to running these days, but it's almost summer (again! yay!) and I love training in the heat. Also, it might be kind of fun to maybe join a running group of some sort, and make some pavement-pounding friends.

Overall, it's been a good transition. We miss our people and our places, but so far it's been fun making our new home in Melbourne (which, by the way, is pronounced "MEL-bin" in Australia - not "MELLL-burrrrnnn" like I used to say in 'Murrrica).

Now. On to a mini-quest to find some half and half.

CK

goodbye!

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." -A.A. Milne

Because Ben and I had no idea when our visas would be approved, we've been saying our "goodbyes" for over two months. But now it's the real deal - we're finally off to start our new life together in Melbourne! It's been a crazy journey to get here, and we haven't even landed in Australia yet.

This week was our final week in the States, and we spent it saying bittersweet farewells to many people. Ben and I were able to spend the previous weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan visiting my family. This week we were able to schedule a few final get-togethers with friends and coworkers, including a fantastic going-away party hosted by our good friends Tara and Nathanael. We had a wonderful dinner with Ben's family last night, and today they took us to the airport. Many tears were shed, but it was a beautiful send-off, and we will always treasure the memory.

We're excited to move, but we'll be missing out on some good stuff. Family time, of course - birthdays, celebrations, long weekends in the midwest, watching the children in our families grow up. We've made some really solid couple-friends and friend-groups in Seattle, and those can be pretty hard to come by. We'll even miss the places in the city that we've become familiar with - little traditions and fun events, places we love to frequent for a long run or some good fro-yo.

Saying goodbye has been very hard for both of us, but it's helped us realize just how blessed we've been, in every aspect of our lives. For everyone who is reading and following us on this journey, thank you - for your thoughts, prayers, encouragement and support... and even for your concern about all the poisonous critters we might be meeting down under. 

The next entry will be from... the southern hemisphere!

CK

it's about time!

After two months of limbo, and relying on the pure kindness and love of family and friends, we are so thrilled to announce our exciting news:

We're moving to Melbourne, Australia!

A few weeks before our wedding, Ben was given the amazing opportunity to transfer within his Australia-based company, continuing his work as an environmental geologist. He accepted, we got married, and for the past couple of months we've been patiently (mostly) waiting for our work visas to go through. We got the official email on Monday, booked our flights yesterday, and we're heading out in ten days!

Kind of like the first year of college, moving internationally is making us realize just how uninformed we are about the world. The things we've grown accustomed to in the USA are things that might not exist in AUS. We've had to do some research on things like credits cards and bank accounts (they actually DON'T have a Bank of America in Australia!), and if Ben's wiiU will be able to function in the great Down Under (apparently, it can..? yay..?). We have discovered that Netflix is not available, and are hoping that their libraries (do they even have those? haha) are stocked with DVDs of Smallville, because we're only at Season 7 and we really must know if the simple farmboy Clark Kent grows up to become Superman (please, no spoilers!). I've begun to wonder about terribly vain matters, like if there will be familiar makeup and soapy lathering products in Melbourne, or if I should stock up on my Neutrogena and Body Shop favorites... or if I should just use Australian beautifying elixirs because they're probably healthier for me anyway. Will we still be able to cook Kraft Spider-Man Mac and Cheese? Blow part of our retirement fund on Starbucks caramel "macchiatos?" And most importantly, do they have Dunkaroos in Australia?

All that aside, preparing for this move has been quite the experience. I've personally relocated within the continental U.S. several times, but doing so internationally is a first for both of us. Ben's work contract is a minimum of two years, so we'll be living down under until at least the 2015 holiday season. We are truly excited for the opportunity to establish ourselves as a married couple, away from any home we've known. It's hard to say goodbye to our wonderful families and awesome friends, but the world is a small place - and we'll definitely be keeping in touch with every technological device and app we can utilize. 

CK

holidays.

Still in limbo, still living out of suitcases. Now commuting to Seattle from Bothell. But the long bus ride is alright - as long as we can catch the double decker commuter bus (bonus points if we snag the front row of the top level! we behave like children when this happens). As our time in Washington keeps getting extended, we're faced with the possibility of still being around for...

THE HOLIDAYS.

It can be pretty tough to decide which family to spend holidays with. Many people can probably relate on some level. 24 hours and three meals is not enough to divide a holiday equally and/or in a way that satisfies everyone, and feelings can get hurt. Things get complicated when people have babies, become terminally ill, visit from faraway lands... or when they get married, and the number of households can multiply. We understand that it's a tremendous blessing to have so many different loving families to divide special occasions with, but it still can be a stressful time. For the past five years, I've had to spend the holidays away from my own family due to the joys of working at a tourist trap open year-round. This has eliminated us from having to choose between visiting Ben's families and mine - however, it's been such a bummer because it would be really nice to have Christmas morning with my mom, dad and brother again someday.

Part of the struggle of deciding where to spend holidays is because Ben and I would theoretically love to spend every holiday with every family of ours. If possible, we would temporarily clone ourselves in order to make this happen. But this is unfeasible. And it seems highly dangerous, because cloning usually leads to zombie warfare. So, we're faced with the dilemma of attempting to balance our own wants and needs, with the wants and needs of our various loved ones. 

Unless we move soon, in which case the only balancing we'll need to do will be at yoga class.

As I've addressed in our previous post, Ben and I are now a family together, and part of why we decided to move during our first year of marriage is because we would like to establish this. We want to begin making our own family holiday traditions, choosing which ones to celebrate and which ones to perhaps retire. For example, I have never been a huge fan of American Thanksgiving, for many reasons (too close to Christmas! travel is horrendous! I don't like turkey! and also the events of which the celebration is inspired by). So, we're thinking we won't make Thanksgiving a big deal in our new family. We've also discussed starting some new family traditions for Chinese holidays, such as the Lunar New Year and the Autumn Moon Festival. After all, our biological children will ethnically be half-Chinese, and it would be fun to raise them with a sense of "cultural awareness," before they become surly teenagers who want nothing to do with anything awesome.

Anyway. Maybe we'll be gone by the time the winter holidays roll around. 

Part of me hopes we will, so we can spend our first married holiday season starting our own traditions, and so we don't have to make tough choices regarding time spent with family.

Because really... it was stressful enough having to decide who we got to spend Halloween with.

CK