Thursday, February 6, 2014

Ready to Settle Down

It's Day Six of our blogger's challenge and honestly...

I almost took my "Get Out of Jail Free" card.

Part of me wants to say that I'll never say never.  Mostly because I don't want to admit that Sydney may have beat me.  I've always been open to following Mr. Smith wherever he wants to take me.  He wanted to come to Sydney so badly and (as I said before) I thought it was going to be so glamorous.

Instead, it's almost more than I can stand sometimes.  Australia is SO DIFFERENT from America.  In some ways it's good.  In general, I really LOVE the people here.  I love the coffee.  I love the cider.  I love the street fairs.  I love the city.  I love my friends.  I love the diversity.

But in other ways, it's not so good.  I don't like most of the food here.  I don't like the salaries for bookkeepers.  I don't like the job search.  I don't like their appliances.  I don't like their fixtures.  I don't like the price of everything.  I don't like that you can't get most services on the weekends (post office, doctors, etc.)  I don't like driving on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road.  I don't like that most apartments have no air conditioning and no heat.  I don't like that there's pretty much no insulation in apartments.  I don't like that windows have no screens... there are bugs everywhere!  I'm just gonna stop here.

Bottom line...  I'm ready to settle down.  Could I settle here in Sydney forever?  Sure.  I could eventually make it work if Mr. Smith wanted to stay.  Would I rather go back home to America?  Yes, I think so.  I would miss my friends here in Sydney, but hey... at this point I miss everyone.  I miss being closer to my family.  I miss eating food that I like.  I miss being able to go to a grocery store and buy familiar food to make a great evening meal that Mr. Smith and I will both like.

I don't know.  I hate being this judgemental about Sydney.  It's so NOT Sydney's fault.  And I really am happy to have had the experience.  The diversity that I've seen is something I will always appreciate.  But I have to admit that I'm homesick.

8 comments:

  1. I know exactly what you mean, Yvette. I'm critical of Melbourne for the same reasons. My life here is just not as comfortable, but it's where my partner is, and that trumps everything.

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    1. I think my husband may feel the same way I do. That makes it easier because we can commiserate. :)

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  2. What foods do you miss the most? For me it was American bacon and sausage, and half and half for my coffee (and there is no substitute for it that you can make with the dairy products available here---I've tried them all!). As for the lack of insulation … there are big cracks between the door and the frame. The cold wind just pours in in the wintertime. Hard to remember that feeling on this very hot day in Melbourne.

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    1. I miss (American) Mexican food. I miss (American) Italian food. I miss hot dogs without weird red skin (yes, we can find American hot dogs, but difficult to find buns sometimes). I miss my Cajun food. I miss food that is seasoned properly. I miss free refills on soda. I miss GOOD burgers. I miss GOOD pizza with GOOD pepperoni and Italian sausage. Yes, I miss liquid, dairy creamer for my coffee (thank goodness I like cappuccino). I miss canned/bottled gravy. I miss GOOD pretzels. I miss getting copious amounts of free ketchup... Etc Etc Etc

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  3. Sorry you are homesick! I would treat yourself to something from home- an expensive imported box of cereal always does the trick for me here in Bahrain! :) But I think you hit the nail on the head- it is a combination of being homesick and not really settled that can really get to any expat. It is a temporary life and every once in a while we long to be really, finally settled in a place that is home.

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  4. We lucked out in our last two places to have screens on our windows, and I have to say that they really remind me how grateful I am for the little things, and how different these little things add up to make life so different from back home, especially in a country with the same(ish) language and similar culture. It's also the little things that can add up to make you feel homesick and out of place here.

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  5. Gee, Yvette, I really didn't think you were being to harsh. I think all the things you listed were fair. It's only natural to feel homesick. Ever experience a flying cockroach flying through one of those unscreened windows? Yeah, that'll make ya miss home! ;-) I didn't even know they could fly!!! Lol.

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    1. So far my husband is the only one of us to have seen a large flying cockroach. Honestly, I think if it had been me, I would have flown back to the US on my own wings and left all my shit behind!

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