Here we are: forty days in Australia. We have landed, struggled and slept through jet-lag, been welcomed by family, swept up in the excitement of Christmas and New Year, then started the process of job search and interviews. We have been 'processed' by banks and government and telephone companies... And we took a peek into what life in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane would mean. We have seen mountains, rivers, sea, forest... and seasons change in a day.
Already we are used to seeing houses with low or no walls around, we drive without locked doors, we walk down streets or around suburbs any time of day, and I am ALMOST getting used to coming to a complete STOP at stop-streets without getting nervous.
Shopping for simple things like groceries still take double the time as my 8.5 times table need some more practice. But my eye for spotting a good special has definitely improved drastically! (Especially when it involves getting two slabs of Lindt for $5!)
I get a bit restless around 2.30pm as I know friends and family in South Africa should start waking up. I get more restless around 4pm as they REALLY should be up and about by then.
At times I find myself thinking about the life in South Africa that we left behind. Only at times, as otherwise it would be overbearing and would keep me from looking forward. I miss my woolly furry creature, but more than that I am grateful for the happy home he has now: with kids to play with all day instead of waiting for the day to pass so we can get home.
I find myself not so much sad about leaving, but sad about the conversations I didn't have, the people I didn't spend more time with, the people I didn't get to know better while I was there and had the chance. People you see in your normal day-to-day activities, the familiar faces that fill up the tapestry of 'life'.
Then I look forward, and I see a vastness of opportunities - almost overwhelming at times. Choices that we still have to make - but where there is choice there is freedom and will, and the chance to change or build new things. I start thinking of new challenges to put myself to, new goalposts.
And I wonder if I can make time to learn some Mazurkas to play at the Polish Place. Plus maybe a Polonaise or two...
