Well we have officially been in Australia for one week....and I feel like we have been here a year =) We have been busy each day with something. And of course, each day brings a new challenge. So first thing we did was find a house. As much as I love being by the beach, I wanted to figure out where we were going to live and get settled. Also rental properties are scarce, so we had to move quick. In our price range, the options were limited in the area we wanted. Needless to say there were some houses that were less than desirable and then some houses that were ok but much different than what we are used to. The biggest differences we noticed were the size of the bedrooms and the lack of closets in those bedrooms. It was very eye opening to how "big" our houses are in the states. What is considered middle to upper class in the states would be considered very wealthly here.
After two days though, we got extremely lucky and found our new home. It had more than enough bedrooms and PLENTY of closet space....I just may have to go shopping to fill things up =) here.
The hard part of renting the house was getting the money together for our deposit. We have the money in our Chase bank account, but because of their "security" it took us over an hour to set up a wire transfer. Of course we all know how soft spoken I am, so it came as a real shock when I started yelling on the phone to the Chase customer service person. The bank manger had to shut the office door. Later I apologized, and was told that I was considerably calm and to not worry about my outburst. Whew!!!!!
After the house, was setting up my cell phone and figuring out appliances. That was not too difficult of a task, so that was a good thing!
Of course since we moved so quickly on finding a house, we were worried about appliances and our stuff that is getting shipped by sea....no worries. Chevron rents us furniture and appliances until our sea shipment arrives. So today we waited at the new house while they unloaded our rental furniture. Not a bad deal AT ALL!
Also today we found a car. Dusty has gotten rather good at driving, I am still working on it. I need to get used to it, because come Monday I am on my own if we go anywhere. Dustin is taking the train to work =)
So we hope to get financed for a Volkswagon Tiguan. Very nice car...used of course. New cars here cost at least $50,000....hmmm no thanks.
Keep your fingers crossed that we can pick it up on Monday.
Finally today we went grocery shopping....I will say that while we spent a boat load, it was not nearly as bad as I thought. It will just take some getting used to, and making sure I shop sales. HOWEVER my diet coke habit will be going by the wayside. 15 packs of coke are ON SALE for $10. Someone said that if people see you buying soda, they think you are having a party ;) At least I might be healthier.
All in all, it has been a good week. I will say that starting over again is hard...especially in a foreign country. I think we are getting the hang of it though. Still miss Texas though!
Hugs and Kisses to all....
After two days though, we got extremely lucky and found our new home. It had more than enough bedrooms and PLENTY of closet space....I just may have to go shopping to fill things up =) here.
The hard part of renting the house was getting the money together for our deposit. We have the money in our Chase bank account, but because of their "security" it took us over an hour to set up a wire transfer. Of course we all know how soft spoken I am, so it came as a real shock when I started yelling on the phone to the Chase customer service person. The bank manger had to shut the office door. Later I apologized, and was told that I was considerably calm and to not worry about my outburst. Whew!!!!!
After the house, was setting up my cell phone and figuring out appliances. That was not too difficult of a task, so that was a good thing!
Of course since we moved so quickly on finding a house, we were worried about appliances and our stuff that is getting shipped by sea....no worries. Chevron rents us furniture and appliances until our sea shipment arrives. So today we waited at the new house while they unloaded our rental furniture. Not a bad deal AT ALL!
Also today we found a car. Dusty has gotten rather good at driving, I am still working on it. I need to get used to it, because come Monday I am on my own if we go anywhere. Dustin is taking the train to work =)
So we hope to get financed for a Volkswagon Tiguan. Very nice car...used of course. New cars here cost at least $50,000....hmmm no thanks.
Keep your fingers crossed that we can pick it up on Monday.
Finally today we went grocery shopping....I will say that while we spent a boat load, it was not nearly as bad as I thought. It will just take some getting used to, and making sure I shop sales. HOWEVER my diet coke habit will be going by the wayside. 15 packs of coke are ON SALE for $10. Someone said that if people see you buying soda, they think you are having a party ;) At least I might be healthier.
All in all, it has been a good week. I will say that starting over again is hard...especially in a foreign country. I think we are getting the hang of it though. Still miss Texas though!
Hugs and Kisses to all....
Amy, you are a great writer! Maybe you should compile these posts and write a book someday. Keep them comming as I am really enjoying them.
ReplyDeleteThank you Katy...if I did not have to grade all those papers, I would LOVE to teach English =) I like your idea about the book... Hope things are going well. Ps LOVED LOVED your wine glass. Great job =)
DeleteAt least they speak English
ReplyDelete