Saturday, July 28, 2012

G'morning, Australia!

I reckon it would be about time to write an update, because I woke up to a whole inbox of how-is-it, how-are-you and let-us-knows.

My whole family came to the airport and said their goodbyes: mum, dad, sister, brother, sis-in-law and three nieces. In a weird way, the younglings were the most aware of the fact that something was going on, although I’m not really sure they can imagine the distance. Hell, even I can’t! 


It's 11 in the morning and I woke up for the third time. Half jet lagged and half cold, I must've realized something's different, even during my sleep. The two cats, Ocelot and Fee, haven't really bothered me, but they're smooching around my legs as we speak.

The beans have been grinded, the water's boiling and coffee time it is!

The flight was OK. I was excited because I love flying, but at one point in the middle of the Indian Ocean my back was aching so badly that I couldn’t wait to land.

Qatar has really shown off with their service and the crew on the flight to Doha was great. Always smiling and attentive, but not in an unnatural way. I met Martin, a guy from Perth on the way to his new home in Abu Dhabi. We both realized the captain hadn’t made an announcement, so we laughed about that and a lot of other things.

Getting out at the airport was hard core, leaving the plane’s 20 degrees for Doha’s 35 and then back on to the terminal’s 18 or so. It’s a bit of a mess since they’re opening up a new terminal in December, but you couldn’t notice anything unless you’re a freak and you read everything about it before you took off.

The flight to Perth was long (eleven hours), but I was sitting next to two girls on their way back from semi-week trips around Europe, so it was interesting to hear what they thought. I have to say they were also quite happy to hear I got a job in Australia and they really presented me with a nice, warm welcome.

Now I’m at H’s, my host and air-quoted boss at work (as she put it) and she’s supposed to pick me up later on for welcome drinks at the office. I’m sure everyone will be thrilled to spend an extra hour at the office on a Friday. But H says everyone’s really looking forward to meeting me, so I hope that goes well.

I have to say it’s freezing here, especially since the house has no real heating system. It’s sunny outside, but the temperature still hasn’t climbed over ten degrees. The house is really nice, filled with a lot of stuff I’d fill it with, and it feels really cozy. I have my own room for while I’m here, with a balcony and a view of the palm trees and the nearby church. By nearby I mean right next to the house.

The city’s quite spread out, which made it look really big from the airplane. I should go sort out some stuff already (like my tax number, electricity converter and so on), but the power is down, so I’ll see how long it takes.

Now I gotta take off, since my laptop’s battery is dying.

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