Everybody keeps on asking me how is my experience in Australia going, so I thought it is a good time now to look back at what major has happened and what I have achieved so far.
The impact with Australia had been mixed. The main jet lag has been the seasonal one, much more than the one related to the flight, and it is still ongoing! Arriving in the middle of the summer in January could not stop to amaze me and my pictures on the seaside in february made a few people back in Europe jealous. But now, in August, that I hear all Europeans going to the beach while here I need to wear the scarf and most of all I am not having any breaks nor holidays at all until December....well guys, this is taking the toll on my biorithm. I mean, I knew that habits have an impact on someone's life (at least mine) on a daily and weekly basis. Imagine for example waking up for years 5 days a week at the same time, or craving for a beer on each Friday night, or all those minor activities that are so commonly taking place in a certain moment of your routine life, and changing them would not kill you but would modify your biorithm. Well, I have been accustomed to have a rest in July/August for almost 30 years and now that I need to push at work, I am freaking out!
And about how I find Australia...I can only say how I find Sydney, because I did not have the chance yet to leave Sydney, again, I am just working my ass off, Monday to Friday, with some overtime, being really focused (yes, being an Italian I must be sick! :-P )! I also waste a lot of 
time in transportation, and that is why an upgrade project is taking place: STOP with bus and train, GO with car and scooter, yeah! Exactly today I got my NSW (New South Wales) driving licence, within a couple of weeks I will buy a people mover to drive around Sydney and to do some trips and holidays around Australia. Why people mover? I can't wait to take my entire team to lunch in a single car and being known as “the Oracle bus” lol. Why also a scooter? Scooter because it is fun, because it is warm, because in the city and in the beaches in Sydney the parking spots are few and very expensive.
Once I had arrived, after living for the first month in a luxurious hotel I had found a room in city center where I was sharing the house with a whole bunch of people from all over the world: Lithuanians, Americans, French, New Zealanders, Vietnamese and so on (yes, big house!). The fun was sure and you would never feel alone, which is important especially when you start a new experience and you don't have friends in town. I am very social and I found it slighlty difficult to start a new life in terms of relationships down here. Everybody told me the australian people are easy going, relaxed and friendly...and they are! What they did not tell me is that they also tend to live extremely shallow relationships, tend to be detached, are basically self driven. As Italian I dedicate my life to laughter, making easy friends, sharing all I have with others, embark on adventures with almost strangers. What I felt once in Sydney though, people 
were not particularly impressed by my humour (which is understandable sometimes), did not offer to involve me in their social weave and network and got away with a thousands of meaningless “how are you doing mate?”. I actually felt the loneliness for a fair amount of time - not due to a language barrier - for the first time in my life. If in Ireland I came to deeply value the good weather and the sunshine, here in Australia I came to deeply value the friendship. But as an Italian friend stated: “as soon as you'll find your best buddy everything will change”. And that was so true. Actually having a witty, adventurous, wise, social, intelligent Kung Fu master as a best buddy is real cool! Ca va sans dire (french expression to mean “as a obvious consequence”) I started practicing kung fu with him. This is a new, cool, effective and potentially violent style that is based on short and sharp movements making the most of the impact by positioning the body in specific ways. Related to this there was the discovery of the 
sexual kung fu....but this requires a whole new and dedicated post. I also brought back volleyball into my life by playing tournaments, trainings and soon to be beach volleyball. I had some crazy nights but I do not go out too often. I adore lingering in the Sydney harbour bay that is so amazing from any viewpoints and that is the symbol of Sydney and partially of whole Australia. I have come so far, I have settled in and tasted the australian life – still too stressed to be the typical aussie life though – and when I am alone in the Sydney Harbour bay I look all around with excitement and eagerness thinking “I made it” and at the same time thinking “this is just the beginning”.
No comments:
Post a Comment