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