phones & other stuff

Ben and I finally have Australian phone numbers! We attempted to get them last week, but didn't have enough identification/documentation to do so. We were pretty much only waiting for our debit cards, which were supposed to arrive within our first week, but ironically were never sent to us because we couldn't provide a valid phone number for our bank account. Lots of catch 22s when it comes to moving! Anyway, it was kind of relaxing to be phone-free for almost a month, but it's really nice being able to make calls again, and to easily get in touch with Ben. It will also help with my job search, which will officially start after the holidays. 

We got our phones set up just in time for Ben's first work trip, which is for two weeks (including the weekend in between! sad). He's off to Gundagai, Wagga Wagga and Coleambally - which, when pronounced correctly, sound like planets from the Star Wars universe. Ben is currently in the middle of a 5-hour drive on the left side of the road, thankfully in an automatic car with another coworker to teach him the ropes. A lot of people have asked us about driving on the other side of road, so we'll finally have some stuff to write about that. I'll be attempting to make a trip up to visit him for the weekend, but will definitely be taking a bus. I already have a hard enough time driving on the right side of the road back in the States..!

It sounds like Ben will be working out of town on a few more occasions, including another two weeks out in January. It's nice that he'll get to see some other parts of Australia while we're here, but I do miss him every time he's away.

CK